I was born at a very young age in the grand town of Sacramento, California.  My mother tells me that I was reading proficiently at the age of two -- and I can't remember a time I didn't have a book in my hand.

I don't remember ever consciously thinking, "I want to write a book." or "I want to be an author.", but I must've had the urge, because I wrote my first novel at the age of ten and never looked back!  I wrote the second and third novels at fifteen (a sci-fi romance) and seventeen (romantic suspense) and entered one into the Avon Teen Novel Writing contest.   I finaled!  I also received a personal letter when I didn't win, along with several books and feedback.  I was hooked.

I didn't write a novel again for a very long time, but did write dozens of short stories and poems.  This was well before there was an internet, and I had no idea how to go about publishing or hooking up with other writers. 

I relocated with my job to Colorado Springs, CO and the day after I moved there, I met the man who would become my husband.  I was very busy with my new job and long commute as well as learning a new city.  I didn't write again for almost a decade. 

When I became pregnant, we decided to move to the frozen north of New Hampshire.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, though I can't remember why.  I have thin, California blood and the winter here (all five months of it) makes my life quite uncomfortable.  Still, I enjoy the wildlife here - we have birds and chipmunks, as well as a backyard bear who keeps trying to snag my birdfeeders.

As a stay-at-home mom, I was desperate to find something that would challenge my brain.  My thoughts immediately turned to writing.  Several years before, my mother had participated in a program called F2K - an online writing class that was hooked up with an online writing community called Writers Village University.  I signed up for the course, and then got myself a membership to the community.  It was the best decision I ever made.

In my spare time, I also raise swallowtail and monarch butterflies with my daughter (who is homeschooled), garden (I enjoy my veggies, but LOVE my flowers) and scrapbook.  I collect frogs -- I think they're adorable -- and keep the live ones outside and the inanimate ones in my office.

I'm heavily involved and indebted to my group of writing friends.  It is due to them I like to think that I inspire others, including my young daughter who has already learned the allure of a hook and has written two stories of her own.