I believe God gave me the gift of creativity.  According to my mother, I’ve been creative my whole life; drawing, painting, telling stories, writing poems.  In college, I maintained my goal of being an artist but dove into the field of creative writing.  I learned how to use words on paper as I would use paint on a canvas.  My writing was became an art to me just as my painting and drawing classes were.    However, I didn’t take my writing seriously until the night I started writing “Painted Soul”, the debut novel in the “Soul Series”.  The story just kept coming out of my head; I couldn’t stop.  After 5o pages of writing long-hand, I knew “This is for real!”  My confidence was boosted and I felt like a real writer when my mentor, Doug Allyn referred to me as an equal, which was amazing.   Besides romance novels, I write short stories, editorials and poetry when the muse touches me.  I also write the Christian Education part of an after school program my church offers for children grades 1-6 and an educational but humorous column featured in a church newsletter.   Music of all genres inspires me.  When I listen to music my mind will begin making up stories.  I enjoy reading anything; I was once told, to be a good writer you have to be a good reader.  Authors with open and humble natures inspire me.    A friend once wrote, “Writing is not what I do, but what I am.”  That is how I feel.  Writing is storytelling, it is a part of me, it is who I am.  I use my words in an artistically descriptive way to allow the reader to journey into the world of my characters and experience their stories.