Robert Frost, Helen Steiner Rice, Dr. Seuss, and many others have influenced my writing. Les Brown inspired me to dare to dream. I've been compared to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Walt Whitman. I'm motivated by my desire to make a difference, and inspired daily by my five beautiful children. I have been blessed to adopt a baby boy with Down syndrome, two holes in his heart and coloboma who reminds me to be thankful for the little things in life, but most importantly laugh at everything. When you are facing heart surgery, each second of every day is something to smile about. My goal is to take my son to Disney which brings me back to writing, dreaming and hoping. I began writing at an early age. I remember getting up out of bed to put my lyrics on paper, and shoving things under the door so my parents didn't know I turned on a light. Inspired by music as a teen, I spent hours writing lyrics. My first poem became published in our small town newspaper when my sister turned in one of my poems to her teacher for homework. A Child's Plea became published online by adoption.com. I'm a dedicated Mom and a single parent who is busy as a bee tending to a very active young man. We have many fun times together, and family nights are always a blast with game playing, snow ball fights, swimming, and much more. I love traveling to Tennessee and North Carolina. I adore the south and southern cooking. Paula Dean is my idol. I enjoy camping, horse back riding, swimming, renaissance fairs, boating, amusement parks and a good snow ball fight! I feel at home in the outdoors. However, the most important thing in my life is my family.

A CHILD'S PLEA and DANCE AMONG THE TREES are both published online. Ladies in Waiting is published in "The Colors Of Life" by the International Library of Poetry. PONDERING LOVE and many others included on poetry.com My biggest and constant achievement is raising my children and keeping sane in the process. I wrote a poem for the March Of Dimes while volunteering and they used it to help bring in funds for children. Seeing my poetry is being used by children who have been through the foster care system certainly is a reward in itself. Our little guy made it through his heart catheterization in August 2007.