I was born and raised in Baltimore City, Maryland. I had always loved the hustle and bustle of the big city life. However, during a tumultuous time in my life, I decided to visit a family member in Tennessee. During that visit, I fell head over heels in love with the tranquil beauty of the mountains, the freshness of vast greenery, neighborly citizens, and a much slower pace of life. At that point in my life, that’s what I was seeking, so in 1993, I picked up and moved to Tennessee, met a wonderful man whom I married in 1995, and as they say, the rest is pretty much history. At that time, writing was not an aspiration, in my immediate sight, nor in the foreseeable future.

The prompting to write this book emerged from a heartfelt cry out to God. Some family members were going through a very difficult time in their lives. At this point, I had already moved to Tennessee which was nearly 500 miles away from my family. I wanted to reach out to them and help heal their hurting souls, but I was so far away – too far to be effective in their lives – so I thought. In answer to an intimate cry out to God for guidance, He gave me explicit instructions on how to deal with the distance between me and my family members in an attempt to extend the help they needed. At the crux of this intimate encounter with God was the birth of a mandate; a charge for me to share with my family how my relationship with God changed my life. That mandate was immediately followed by further counsel to share with the world how God completely turned my world, which was upside-down, right-side up and allowed me to begin life all over again. Details of my encounter with our Living God are described in Always Willing, Always Able.

My main hope for Always Willing, Always Able is that people who read it will choose to make a change in their lives; a change that includes giving our Living God first place in their lives and allow Jesus to take the reins and guide and direct them. It is my hope that readers will give Jesus a chance to prove that He is always willing and always able to accomplish more in their lives than they can ever imagine. I long to see people live healthy, fulfilling lives in spite of circumstances that crop up in the fields of everyday life. I didn’t write this book because I have all of the answers; quite the opposite is true. I’m sharing my stories and my experiences because I had so many questions in my early Christian walk, and this book was purposely written for readers who are earnestly seeking something different.

Subtitling my book, Living Beyond Your Means, was a decision I made when I was about at the halfway mark in the completion of the book. I was meditating one day and thinking about how I was going to manipulate my life in an effort to accomplish all of the things that I believe I am called to do. The thought which dropped into my spirit was truly amazing and that is: I am not living out of my own ability and drawing from my own source pool. On my own, I could never accomplish all that God has for me to do in this life. Absolutely everything I am accomplishing now in my life is way beyond my own means. Everything, and I do mean everything, that I am able to do is solely credited to the sacrifice of Jesus. Our abilities derive from the one who is all and can do all through us if we dare to allow Him to reign in our lives. So that’s how the Living Beyond Your Means subtitle evolved. In a nutshell, the subtitle evolved from the realization that in no way, fashion, or form, have I become the person I am today by drawing from my own sources, but instead I draw from who I am through Jesus.

What brings me the greatest joy from writing is to receive an email, text, or phone call from someone who has read my book for the purpose of sharing with me how my work has changed something about them or a circumstance in their lives. That’s what brings me the greatest joy! We can’t force anyone to change, but we can give them the information needed that will help steer them toward making a conscious decision for change, and provide the necessary tools to usher in the transformation.

Oh my. Many things inspire my writing: broken hearts, pain in the eyes of my brothers and sisters, sickness and disease, witnessing lack in the lives of those around me, and quite possibly my biggest inspiration is to hear someone say, “There is no way out of this situation!” Comments of that nature tear my heart apart because I know there is always a way out of any situation or circumstance and my intent is to help lead them to the one who can help them.

Books of inspiration and encouragement are what I enjoy reading most. I love to learn, and I’m always seeking to expand my knowledge of the Word and the things of God, so I get a lot of enjoyment from various types of biblical teaching books. Not necessarily study books per se, but books that provoke thought and meditation.

Yes, John Bevere’s, The Bait of Satan is an amazing book. It’s a book that I could read over and over again as a reminder that we face a true enemy, and one of his most deceptive traps is luring us into taking up an offense without even realizing it. John Bevere shares that how we respond to the various offenses will determine our future. Another book that has had an impact on me is Andrew Wommack’s book, You’ve Already Got It! This book has helped me realize that God’s response to me and my needs and desires are not based on my performance, but instead based on what Jesus has already done for me. I can quit searching because everything I need to live a victoriously life, I already have. In reading this book, I learned how to let go, and let God. I know that’s a very familiar cliché, but nevertheless, it’s true. You’ve Already Got It! has taught me to stop depending on myself and totally rely on the finished work of the cross.

I enjoy quilting, swimming, walking, and I love spending time in the sunshine. I could sit in the sun for hours reading a good book.

I tell aspiring authors to never give up. We all have a story to tell. I believe that sharing life experiences always serves to help someone somewhere. As much as we would like to believe our circumstances and the events that crop up in life are unique to our own lives – they aren’t. The details may vary, but life really doesn’t change much. However, what does change is how we view circumstance and situations. I believe I have said to every aspiring author, “It’s not difficult. Write your story first. That’s the important part.” As far as publishing is concerned – at the onset of this journey, publishing was like the elephant in the room. Some authors, traditional publishing venues, and various writing services had a tendency to continuously convey how difficult it is to “break into” the publishing world and that getting a foot in the door is very difficult if you are not already well known. However, I will be forever thankful to two friends, in particular, who shared Smashwords with me. Even though the process from beginning to end wasn’t a piece of cake, Smashwords gave me the confidence I needed to continue down the path toward self-publishing my work.

Working with Smashwords has been great. Not only did Smashwords give me the confidence I required to move towards publishing my work, but they helped me realize that I am the only person who has the merit to make the determination that my writing is good enough for publishing. Realizing that traditional publishers know the market and the saturation level of topics which are currently on the market, as well as what readers are currently searching for, still there are instances when there is the potential for a really good book to leak through the cracks and get missed for review. With Smashwords, the chance of a missed review is non-existent because the author is the only barrier to publishing. If an author chooses not to self-publish, then their work isn’t read, but that’s the sole choice of the author. In addition, Mark Coker left no stone unturned by providing all instructions needed, free of charge, for publishing. Not only did he provide publishing information, but he shared his marketing knowledge as well. I truly consider Mark to be a treasure-trove to self-publishers.