I was born in Greece and immigrated to the U.S. with my family when I was 4 1/2 years old. I grew up in a Greek speaking family, went to a Greek Orthodox church, and participated in the local Greek festivals. When I was twelve, a cousin of mine was diagnosed with leukemia and hydroencephelas. He was a beautiful baby. I was attached to him, so when he passed away from leukemia a year later, it affected me tremendously. That is when I read a lot on the topic and decided that I would study the biological sciences in order to understand this terrible disease. That is also the time I began writing poetry. After receiving my bachelors in biology from CWRU, I worked as a biologist in the cancer research field for ten years, and later on as a data manager in that field. I also played viola in such orchestras as the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra and the Fairfield Symphony Orchestra. I also have written poetry, sang in church choirs, and was involved in the Greek community. Somewhere in all those activities, I also managed to travel to Greece several times to visit relatives. A few years ago, after I became a stay-at-home mother with time on my hands, I decided to write a novel. The love for my husband was the inspiration for writing a romance novel. Almost two years later, I published "Lipsi's Daughter." The story takes place on the Greek island of Lipsi, in the Dodecanese section of Greece. I enjoyed writing it and wanted to share my Greek culture with others. After that came "The Lion and the Nurse" which has been compared to My Big Fat Greek Wedding by Michael Bilirakis, former congressman. In addition, I moderated a poetry group on Yahoosgroup for close to three years. There, I wrote a poem a week. Since then, I compiled several years worth of my poetry and published my poetry book "Candlelit Journey: Poetry from the Heart." It has four sections, Spiritual Reflection, Reflections of Love, Life and Death, and Greek themes. I live in Maryland with my wonderful husband and joyful son, whom I now homeschool.