Except for a few years of roaming, I've lived my life in the Ozarks.  I love these hills and valleys and these people. This is a way of life I want my young to know. When my seventh child was in upper middle school, I finally entered college, realizing a life-long dream. I taught school several years while my husband and I cared for my ailing mother. I enjoy many hobbies, but writing is my third career, after raising a family and teaching. Most of my writing has been done to show my respect and love for my Ozark forebears. I want the world to know how admirable and resilient those people were by taking my readers back in time to "live" with them awhile, to meet the characters and learn their stories. With sixty years of marriage behind us, my husband and I are still enjoying life. We have a couple of dozen great-grands now, so we stay pretty busy. Still, I try to find time to tell my stories and compose some poetry. Fame would be nice but, if nothing more, I hope to leave a treasure--an understanding and love of heritage--for our progeny.  

Some of my stories and poetry has been published by The Ozark Mountaineer, Sunset Magazine, Country Woman, Echoes VII, and local newspapers. I have two books: one is historically-accurate fiction: The Greatest of These; the other is a small collection of my mother's childhood stories entitled Share Croppers' Child. Currently, I'm writing another book in which the main character is built on the child from The Greatest of These, her life into middle teen years.
I have received the "Climbing Higher" award from the White River Writers Guild for a short story, other contest awards for two poems and two short stories.