Being an author is a beautiful craft~ Telling a story with passion and excitement is like painting a picture with words. To capture the audience for the duration of a book (or a poem) is a very rewarding thing to do. I am a lover of great stories and even greater minds. Some call me an overachiver who thinks that determination is a beautiful thing. My parents raised my two older brothers and me in a small village of nine not too far from the city of Cologne, Germany. Even though the number of citizens populating Wiedenhof was rather small, we were accompanied by several thousand chickens, two dozen dairy cows, and a handful of horses. Early on I encountered the beauty of horses and my love for their magnificence still grows steadily every day! After walking to and from school, we kids helped with chores in the small bed and breakfast establishment our mother ran in the same house where we lived. It must have been her creative mind who contributed to my talent as a writer. Over the decades my very gifted mother created many beautiful and meaningful poems. As a young teen I discovered the German writer Tina Caspari, whose children's books were a strong influence on me in my early years. Later I found fascination in the dark tales of Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie, composing several short stories myself. After high school I earned a degree as a beautician, but found my true calling by working with horses. First I studied equine science in college and experienced hands-on training of racehorses through a program overseen by the German government. Later, I became a trainer of dressage horses, or English style riding, and I have composed articles for magazines in my profession. In 1995, I moved to the United States. I lived first in the Mid-West and later in Northern California, where I continued my professional career as a horse trainer and competed in Dressage. I love the outdoors and have much appreciation for the beauty and mèlange of this country and its people. Over the past 10 years, I have traveled a great deal and visited many states. My experiences traveling compelled me to become more serious about being a novelist. The country's vast diversity gives me much of my inspiration for writing. Today, I enjoy the company of my two horses in a small town close to the Wasatch mountains in Utah, and I call myself lucky to be surrounded by good friends.  

I'm proud to announce that "Relocating Mia" has placed as a "Finalist" in the "Fiction & Literature: Chick Lit/Women's Lit" category of the National Best Books 2007 Awards.
Also, my novel received honors as a Finalist in the 2008 Indie Excellence awards and was named a WINNER in the romance genre of the 2008 Sabrina Book Awards. The sequel to Relocating Mia, The Acronym, is now available on amazon.com and signed copies are for sale for a discounted price on my website: http://www.rebeccalerwill.com

The sequel to Relocating Mia, named The Acronym, is now available through my website and any book store as well as here at the Den!!

Otherwise there are a few polished, wooden plaques with my name engraved in brass hanging on my office wall. Even though I'm very proud of those as well, they have nothing to do with me being a writer. They are all from my earlier life as a competitor of Dressage horses.