I was born in Chicago and my family moved to Joliet when I was three. I'm married with two kids, 4 dogs, 4 cats, 4 turtles and a rat. Although I hate the rapid growth of Joliet, and dream of moving to another town, I'm still here. My favorite authors are Katherine Kerr and Stephen King, I like to read just about anything. I'm addicted to buying books and learning new things. I've been writing for 20 years (since I was 11 years old). My first story was CRYSTAL THE CRYSTAL WING PEGASUS - never published - but I keep the original handwritten story near my desk. It reminds me of when my passion started. I've had several articles and some short stories published in magazines, newspapers and some e-zines over the years. Somewhere around 180 total. I've also written several columns in The Joliet Herald News (a major newspaper in my area) about pet care. I should mention that some of my earlier writing was done under my maiden name of Locke or Mindock.

I've recieved some awards for my poetry. I've written close to 500 poems in my life. I've had two poems published "Lonesome Dove" in A CELEBRATION OF POETS 1998 and something in TWILIGHTS DAWN (my only copy got destroyed and it was so long ago, I can't remember.)