About the author
I started my first novel at age four. I couldn’t read and I couldn’t write so I had to ask my mom how to spell every word … then locate the correct typewriter key ($? S?). My novel was a rewrite of Hans Brinker (The Silver Skates) read to me at bedtime. My spirit demanded a female lead character … so I created one.
This is all the information you’ll ever need to “get” what I’m about.
I was born and raised in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, an economically depressed borough outside of Pittsburgh. I remember that I loved school. I enjoyed learning about the world that fed my imagination. The older I got, the more I discovered that life was as painful as it was marvelous. What I’d been taught about the sacredness of the human spirit did not often gel with reality. Horrible inequities existed So, I began serious writing to help me make sense of things. And that was all well and good until I had to make a living.
All of my professions … bartending, technical writing, teaching … have been rewarding and paid the bills. But nothing has ever matched fiction writing in my heart. It’s at that place—where I rabbit-hole into the creative realm—that I’m truly engaged with the world on all levels.
I went to college in Minnesota and stayed. This was during the era when education wasn’t exclusively linked to earning money. I studied many subjects just for the love of it, eventually visited or lived in many countries, and took time to read and think. Back in the day, having a 401K and a high credit score weren’t considered the hallmarks of a successful life.