I live in beautiful western Montana and dream of making a comfortable living as a novelist. 

Like my character Jessie Morgan, I lived in 1970s San Francisco, riding the cable cars in raggedy bell-bottom jeans. One time I walked too far barefoot, including all the way across the Golden Gate Bridge, and ended up with tendonitis in one foot.

Before getting to San Francisco, I dropped out of college and wandered America's back roads, working seasonal jobs from Key West, Florida to Polson, Montana.