Currently a Licensed Vocational Nurse retired in the state of Texas, dealing with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis, constantly evolving now physically and emotionally.

My book, Missing Ingredients, was written with my brother, Drew Carpenter. The first chapters were written long distance, thanks to email, as we ended up several states apart. When he moved back to Texas, we were able to finish, finally, our tale. There are many parts that we no longer remember which one of us wrote, and truth is combined with fiction. Neither of us has any formal training, only a few basic college courses that we managed to take in adulthood. So, of course, we self-published, anxious to see our creation in print.

The struggles of self-publishing while working full-time were as stressful as trying to find a real publisher might have been, but we learned.

We hope our story of growing up in a small town without guidance will show the hopelessness and hope of children from dysfunctional families.