Here's a happy little update from Cheri: "Columbia River Gorge has gone into its second printing. What does that mean to my readers? For starters, it means you can count on being able to buy another copy to give as a gift when you feel that spirit of giving. It also means some minor errors in the first edition have been corrected for the second run. I still have a few copies of the first edition, which I will be happy to inscribe to your favorite gift recipient if you order using the "autographed copies" link on my Author's Den site." Now, on to details about the author: An avid reader since pre-school age and always the recipient of the highest marks in language-related courses, Cheri didn't consider the possibility of writing professionally until she went to work for a local newspaper during her second year of college. She was hired as the newspaper's bookkeeper but her penchant for language presented itself along the way, which led to the editor asking her to cover stories as a part-time staff writer.  Cheri caught the writing fever in short order and changed her major at school. She began working for publishing companies in a new city, soon after beginning her "career" -- first as a staff reporter and then as the editor of a newspaper. She turned to freelance work, including a stint as a stringer with UPI, when babies entered her family picture and some lifestyle changes needed to be made. For the next 20 years she continued to do freelance writing and editing work but fell back on a full-time career as a licensed tax accountant and investment advisor. As a result, her publishing credits include articles in numerous regional and national (U.S.) trade publications for accountants and financial workers. According to Cheri, "Other topics of interest to me include travel, cultural diversity and history. My published works reflect those interests as well as a few other topics, including life in the Alaskan bush country where I lived for several years ending in the mid 1990s.  My real interest is people-watching: sometimes I watch them in retrospect (the historical stuff) but I'm always watching the world turn around me on a daily basis. The most ordinary life experiences have led me to some of the most extraordinary personal experiences a human could have in one lifetime. It is from those experiences that I draw my ideas for books and stories."

Numerous nominations to "Who's Who: American writers & authors," Scripps-Howard scholarship for journalism excellence, awarded back in the dark ages -- my senior year of college. I've won minor writing awards and honorary positions, but am still waiting to become such a popular author that my writing merits a Lifetime Achievement Award...

My personal achievements include raising two fine children to adulthood, screwing up as stepmother to two more who turned out great anyway, and my current crowning glory as Grandma to my grandson, Aidan (age 7). I've found that being in the company of children gives me a fresh outlook on things I might otherwise take for granted in life. Like animals, children give joy and real love without reservation, to all who take the time to be with them.