My first published book is Edge of Escape, a psychological thriller with a sympathetic twist. I've written many more in between that one and this year’s coming of age novel, The Guardian’s Diary.

There is a character that I based on a particular student I liked in one of my classes. I’m not going to say which book he’s in other than that it’s one of my young adult novels. When I got frustrated that no agent would look at the manuscript I rewrote the ending and killed off that character. Wouldn't you know that then the book got grabbed by a publisher and we kept that ending. I’d like to go back and save him.

Kindle Fire

If I could live anywhere in the world I would live in a small town in northern Michigan where people don’t lock their doors, where you can go to the bank, the library, the post office, and the grocery store and everyone knows your name, where the little white church on the hill really is a friendly place for worship and fellowship. I’d live in a log home and always feel like I’m on vacation in a resort community where the summers are hot, the winters are beautifully white, and the falls burst with color. There would have to be a couple of enormous lakes connected by lazy rivers and I’d populate the place with lots of nice people, a few quirky fellows, one village crank, and an assortment of irascible kids. If you haven’t guessed – this is where I live and I hope I never have to leave.

My desk is a beautiful oak roll top where I take care of everything except writing. For that I use a laptop and sit in the sun room of our full log home, deep in the heart of a quiet forest.

My father inspired, motivated, and encouraged me more than anyone else. His belief in me and his pride in my achievements helped me through those “inconveniences”: divorce, cancer scares, death. My oldest daughter inspires me, too, because she never complains. She has monthly infusions for Crohn's disease while managing a home with three small children and a husband in grad school. Oh, and one child is severely allergic, one has Down syndrome, and the third is a newborn. Why doesn't she complain about how hard life is? I hope it’s because I have passed on to her, from my father, the concept that life is an adventure and it’s all in God’s hands.