It all started when a third grade teacher didn’t believe I’d written the haiku I submitted for an in-class assignment (now, where she thought I’d stolen it from is beyond me). From that point on, I dedicated myself to the craft.
Actually…not.
The third grade thing did happen, and I did write sporadically thereafter. But soon other interests took over. I wanted to be SO many things: detective, ballerina, astronomer, international woman of mystery.
After getting a degree in political science and economics with a minor in German, I hopped out of college and into the U.S. Foreign Service. My first tour was in Germany, where I met my husband. I stayed in the Service a little while after returning to America, then quit right after getting tenured (What was I thinking?). Years of wandering ensued. I taught social studies, worked in mutual funds, and helped edit community newspapers in Florida.
Oh, and at some point I worked part-time in a library so I could be near books.
More recent stints included captioning live TV and writing audio description scripts. I've also voiced audio description for a variety of shows, by far the most fun I've had in a job. Now I'm a freelance copywriter, specializing in home-related goods.
But back to those wandering years. My love of writing kept bubbling up, but what to write was the question. Big events during that time—9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—led me to the answer. In the midst of all the upheaval and uncertainly, I wanted my writing to give young people hope and excitement about not only the future, but their future. Over two decades and four novel manuscripts later, things finally are panning out. I've got a wonderful agent, Amy Thrall Flynn from Rubin Pfeffer Content, and a middle-grade novel scheduled to come out in 2024.