I’ve has had a lifelong dream of writing fiction, but it has taken almost a lifetime to grow the guts to give it a serious try. (“Me, an author?”) Not that writing is new to me. For more decades than I’d like to say, I’ve made my living as a writer/editor of marketing collateral for companies of all kinds. And for years I’ve sketched plot ideas, thoughts and snippets of observations in journals…kind of sneaking up on the real deal. I collect odd facts and arcane information; I love eccentrics, and you’ll find plenty of these elements in The Last Word Cemetery. Besides commercial copywriting, I’ve worked as a high-school French teacher, public relations coordinator, educational AV editor and marketer of my and my husband’s photography business. As for literary influences, I can name Vonnegut, Beckett, the French surrealists and existentialists. I also love the magic realism of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez and Carlos Fuentes. Satire and absurdism have always appealed to me.