I was reared at Oxford Orphanage, now called The Masonic Home for Children, in Oxford, North Carolina.  This is still my home and all the students who were there are my brothers and sisters.  I spent twelve years there and am happy to call this place home.        We orphans are a different breed from other families.  If you are not an orphan, growing up in an orphanage, you will find it hard to understand where we are coming from.  We spend time together and each year during our annual homecoming, we throw our love around like there's no tomorrow.  At the hotel, we get together in the conference room on Saturday night, and you should hear the conversations.  It is amazing to stop talking and look around at the brothers and sisters having a good time.  There is not greater love than those of orphans who were brought up at Oxford Orphanage.  We don't hesitate to hug and kiss one another like we we will never see each other again.       During my childhood I read probably all the books in the library at the orphanage.  I do not have anyone who was a major influence on my writing ability.  It comes to me naturally.  We did not have writing classes at the orphanage school so I did not get the chance to see what I could accomplish as a child.  I graduated from high school and then left to make my mark in the big, wide world.        I had planned to attend nurses training in Kannapolis, NC with the help of my grandfather but later learned that was not so.  I was told to work for one year and save my money to get my nurses' degree.  So I went to work in Raleigh, NC doing secretary work.        I met my husband and we dated for over a year and the education went nowhere.  Falling in love was more important to me at that time and I did not want to leave for Kannapolis.  I married my husband, Donald, in 1957 and as of now we have been married for 62 years.  He is the love of my life and we have three wonderful children, two girls and one boy, who are very dear to me.  I was a stay at home mom and went to work when my youngest daughter was in middle school.  They have given me six beautiful grandchildren and four step grandchildren who are very special to me. I now have 2 great grandsons, who are such a joy to this lady.       Writing became important to me after I got my first computer.  Of course I was working at the time so I would stay up at night writing and then sleeping little before going to work.  I retired from Air Products and Chemicals in 1997 and that is when I really started writing seriously.        Retirement is great for me because we moved to Southport, NC where I helped to raise my two granddaughters while their mother taught  school and daddy worked as a technical engineer.  After moving into my new home and getting one grandchild in school, I then babysat my youngest grandchild until she went to preschool.  My oldest granddaughter is now in school to be a dental assistant and the youngest one is in the 10th grade and wants to be a doctor.            I picked up my book again after my youngest grandchild went to preschool and I was determined to finish it, which I did and then I tried to find an agent to work with me with no success.  Then I started looking for publishers and decided on Xlibris because of a friend uses them to publish six novels.   I  published my first mystery novel, "Grains of Sand", in August of 2007.          My second book, "Feelings of Guilt" is ready for publication. I finished the book in 2007 but so far no agent has picked it up.            The book deals with drug lords and a young lady who is trying to make it in the clothing design world, which takes place in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The book takes you on a journey that is unsafe where drug lords live and hang out.  As the story unfolds, it keeps you on your seat until the end.  In the story I relived some of my experiences in the orphanage which should be of interest.          I have finished another manuscript called "Hidden Secrets".  It deals with faking a death and being married to several women at the same time.  There are several different twists and turns in the book and it should hold the attention until the last page.     I have finished another manuscript called " Bullying Becomes Brutal". It is about bullying in the school system. It deals with bullying a middle school girl and then her mother is bullied at the high school where she teaches. It is a large county and the school board has some of the good ole boys on it and they are crooked.  I stopped writting for a time due to no interest and of course I became discouraged due to no contacts. I started reading what it takes to be a writer and that is when I started my story about growing up in and orphanage.  I wrote "Always an Orphan" and it was published by Bedazzled Ink Publishing in September, 2017. It is the story about me growing un in the orphanage. It is doing okay but I still think I need an agent to help me get my books in the public and on the shelves of bookstores.  I will now keep looking for an agent to help me with the three unpublished manuscrips that I have on hand.    

Grains of Sand, published by Xlibris in August, 2007. The book can be ordered from Barnes and Nobles, Borders, Amazon,and through Xlibris.

"ALWAYS AN ORPHAN" published by Bedazzled Ink
can be ordered from Amazon