My Backstory

I love books. I have a problem. Take me to any gift shop; I’m drawn to the book corner. Notebooks, journals, writing utensils—they are irresistible to me. I often have two to three notebooks that I write in daily. Some contain to-do lists, others have story ideas, others biz notes and personal stuff. I keep sketchbooks and art supplies stashed away for rainy days and any day in general. I love to write, read, and daydream.

I think when I was very young I wanted to be a librarian. I catalogued my small collection of children’s books. They each had an index card ready to be “borrowed.” Libraries were dreamy spaces to me. The only place better than a library was a BOOKSTORE! Seriously? There is a store that only sells books? Best. Place. Ever. Don’t even get me started on used bookstores—all those rare and out of print books. How dreamy!

While pursuing a PhD in environmental engineering, I discovered how much I loved the PhD process. I have a learner’s personality. School was fun, the friends and social life, but I loved learning new things. I still do. Reading for fun is the best. Reading to learn is a close second. A PhD requires course work, research, experimentation, and endless writing. I later discovered these were similar requirements needed to write a novel. Writing has allowed me to combine all my interests, talents, and loves. The marketing and business end of things is a constant learning process. Luckily, I enjoy learning.

A resort in Minnesota where I’ve spent summer vacations since my birth inspired the Loon Lake Series. I return there now with my own children some summers. It’s a place that has filled me with daydreams and restoration my whole life. It was the perfect muse for my first novel. The characters compelled me to expand that first summer story into a series. Additional stories and possibly series are to come…but the first story is where my writer’s soul was born.

I love books. I have a problem. There’s not enough time in the day to read everything I want to read. There’s even less time to write everything I want to write. But I’ll keep trying…

Thank you for visiting with me.

P.S. I live in Arizona with my husband, two young daughters, and a cat. Arizona winters are amazing. The summers, not so much. I live vicariously through Sammy, wishing I could spend the summers keeping cool at a lake. That’s the beauty of books and stories—they allow you to be in two places at once.