Ara Vertrees is an advisor to the King in Jimalia, a thriving island nation in the middle of a vast ocean. Her macaws are trained to fly home to the palace to repeat confidential information. When their messages become more and more troubling, she finds herself in the middle of a crisis she never expected. Ara's story is full of adventure, friendship, mystery, love and loss. Join Ara and her companions as they fight pirates, uncover deception, find love and fight for Jimalia.

I love adventure and love! I adore an epic that hinges on the actions of a small number of people. Throw sword fights or pirates in and I'm there!

Fiction! I love to fall into stories and see people go through their hardships and grow. I really like a story where relationship are constantly growing and changing.

Kindle!

My writing platform is my tablet. Whether it's writing while laying at the pool, in a cafe or at home on my couch, that depends on my mood!

I grew up in Santa Cruz, California. However it's my job that influenced my writing more. I work with animals and include them in my writing.

I started writing when I was just a kid. Of course what I wrote was horrendous and a rip-off of every television program I ever liked, but I don't regret those terrible works. Because of them, I came into my new stories with some good practice.

Being an author was never something I wanted to be, really. I just had a story inside of me that I wanted to share so badly. I love reading and I wanted others who love reading to enjoy my book as much as I do!

For me, the most rewarding part of writing my book was getting to read it cover to cover in the end.

I love Karen Marie Moning, Dan Brown, H. G. Wells, Robin Hobb and Deborah Chester!

Cover art is hard and I'm sure all authors know this. It's next to impossible to show a reader what's inside a book in a single image. I tried to just make something attractive that related to some of the major aspects of my story (a macaw and a compass rose). I didn't try to encompass my story with it, I just see it as something bold to help people recognize the title in their library.