News. When I really need a break from day to day caregiving, writing, working, housekeeping, etc., or if I'm just feeling uninspired, I go to the news. That usually wakes me up and it's mostly free.

Book-wise it's been a long time since I read fiction but I do truly value escape in it's ability to rest your mind, give you a break, make you laugh, cry and discover meaning. My favorite thing to do is laugh so if I had to pick a genre... wholesome comedy would be it.

Genesis, Joshua, Ruth, John, Romans.

Genesis because it's jam packed with formative, foundational, beautiful content that spans huge swaths of time and events.
Joshua speaks to me because it's so multi-dimensional--I especially love the "Expositors" version through JSM which really opened my eyes.
Ruth I identify with because her life parallels mine in many ways. It's about her faith, her marriage, and her adoption into the family of God but it's also a picture of our own "marriage" to Christ, the ultimate kinsman redeemer. (And... besides that, who doesn't love a good love story?!)
John is just incredible. I cannot read enough of that Gospel. If you want to know the Gospel that's where I'd start.
Romans is also a biggie because it's just an incredibly succinct systematic explanation of the faith.

Kindle because it was gifted to me! I have the large-print capable "paper look" with no back light, so I don't have to worry about blue light ruining my sleep.

Key words. I'm a new author so, while I KNOW about marketing techniques I haven't tested the waters yet.

It's about 1.5x2', oval, wooden, with an open shelf for paper under it. The chair is sized for a little person, and at 5'4" I'm not that little. This desk was handed down through several generations... I'm told it was an early telephone desk! But it works for my space and I'm grateful to even HAVE a dedicated writing workspace. Someday though, a normal size chair with some foam padding would be awesome.

I grew up in California with a big supportive family and a big happy church and kids everywhere in the neighborhood. When I was 11 years old we uprooted and moved 4,000 miles from home to rural Virginia where I switched to public school and had zero friends and zero family. I ended up taking to letter-writing, and then newsletter writing, and then I providentially landed in a journalism "elective" (which I was not too thrilled with at first) with a very talented teacher who showed me what good writing looked like. He saw things in me that I never saw, and encouraged me to push beyond my comfort zone and take harder classes and bigger responsibilities. He was truly the most influential person at a time when I was making big decisions. My mom and dad were also great, because they were both creative "can-do" type people. They worked their tails off to make sure we got the best opportunity they could give us.

Second grade is my first memory of writing. The teacher had us all write our own story book and "published" them in composition style binding. We were all proud as punch.

I have three books in their infancy right now. One--is my personal journey overcoming a very deadly autoimmune disease, which I'm writing to encourage and inform others who have the same diagnosis. The second, is a memoir for my father-in-law who was a U.S. Marshall during the Kennedy administration and through integration. The third, is a love story that may be my first adventure in fiction but which is based on my real story. Stay tuned.

I had agents who loved the idea and thought it "should be" published told me that they didn't know a single Christian publisher who would want a story like mine. I knew then that it was time to let the audience come to it naturally without a middle man. I'd gotten offers for "hybrid" publishing through imprints that were genuine and mainstream but I couldn't justify the cost when I already had the knowledge and art background to do the job myself.
Once I began reading more about the indie author movement, that was it. I was dedicated.

Well, I uploaded yesterday and already have had 4 downloads which is more than what a competitor gave me in the same time-span. I'm really grateful for the ability to publish here, and send it out to so many retailers without having that many accounts. It saves me so much time, which I can then invest in writing again.

Helping others. That's what life's all about!

They are the reason I write.

I do watercolor monikers for kids (name art), I'm a caregiver, and I love to garden.