I'm lucky to have a big window near the bed, so I wake up in the morning to the sight of the big sky and distant mountains. Seeing the light beginning to fill the sky fills me with happiness, so I feel good about getting up to join the day's business.

I like to hike and to garden. I read a great deal. Most evenings I spend with my husband watching a movie or show. Sometimes I hang out with friends. Mostly I lead a pretty quiet life.

Discovery never seems to be a problem for me - keeping up is! I have a lot of favorite authors I autobuy, I read books my friends write and that up-and-coming authors are putting out so I can support them. I follow what my friends and book bloggers are recommending and the ones up for awards.

I write for discovery. (I'm not fond of the term "pantser.") I write five days a week and I'm pretty disciplined about going for 3,000 words/day. That's sustainable for me. I think about the book a lot when I'm not writing, but I don't outline. Really, I can't outline. Instead I write the story and allow it to take me where it wants to go.

The first story I remember reading for myself was Charlotte's Web. Once I learned to read well enough - around the same time my mom stopped reading to me, because I'd read over her shoulder and correct her errors - I read Charlotte's Web to find out how it ended. My mom always cried so hard at the end that she'd never finished it!

I have a Kindle Paperwhite, which reminds me of my first generation Kindle. I like how the the paper and ink screen mimics a book and reduces eye strain, and I like that it's not connected to anything else, so I can immerse in the book without social media, etc., distracting me.

Connecting with readers and other authors! I love talking up books I love and doing group projects with wonderful authors who are my friends. I'm not much for buying ads and that sort of thing.

I have a walking desk that I can raise and lower hydraulically and that has a treadmill beneath. The desk surface is nice and big with very little on it. I like having clean, open space around me. There's a big window in front of me that looks out on the valley and mountains beyond.

I started writing poetry in my teens and then moved into writing essays. Later, in grad school for a neuroscience degree, I went back to writing essays and took courses with visiting writers. My first professional publication was an essay I wrote in my mid-twenties, and my first book (Wyoming Trucks, True Love, and the Weather Channel) was an essay collection. A few years later I moved into writing fiction.

I'm actually a hybrid author with ongoing contracts with traditional publishers, too. I began self-publishing to augment and balance my income stream. For the last couple of years, my income has been roughly 50/50 indie/trad.

I really love how Smashwords helps me through problems and offers venues to expand readership. The people at Smashwords care about authors and their success - it's great to feel like Smashwords is part of my team!