When am I NOT writing? The connection between brain and paper is a magnificent process, whether it's from keyboard to screen or pencil to paper, from grocery lists to character dialogue to first liners, I love to write! In fact, sometimes I write in my head! On the other side of that coin, I love to read what other people have to say. So when I'm not writing, I'm reading. And to keep myself "balanced" - I walk with my dog and swim.

I remember the stories we read in First Grade, those "Run, Dick, run! See Dick run. See Jane run. Run, Jane, run!" stories. I remember thinking, Who talks like that? No one I knew did, for sure. To me, those stories needed more action than cheering on Dick and Jane. They needed interaction - dialogue - a plot!

Neat and orderly with good lighting. Lots of pens, pencils, paper, notecards, dictionaries, reference books, a laptop, a mouse, a printer, a calendar, and an agenda.

I grew up in Abbeville, Louisiana, a small town in the heart of Acadiana, "Cajun Country." The place is riddled with bayous and swamps, and the people are joyful and friendly. They smile easily and laugh heartily, especially at their own foibles. Perhaps these traits have influenced my writing the most.

I tell people that I started writing when I was six years old. "Wow!" they say. So I go on to explain that as soon as I learned the alphabet and could put two or three letters together to form a word, I began to write. Then I ask them, "When did you learn the alphabet?" I know this is not a serious answer, but it's the truth. I began to write when I was six because that is when I started school. I never went to kindergarten because my mom made me stay home to play with my younger sister Barbara, who was three at the time. When I turned six, Barbara had to go to pre-school and later to kindergarten. So she got double-duty early schooling, not me. I learned to write that first year. We were taught the Spenserian method, with your wrist in the air. We did lots of ovals. When I was in 9th grade, my dad made me and my older brother Mike take an early morning, before school typing class. We're talking pre-electric typewriters, big, black Underwoods that helped you develop biceps on your pinkies. Once I got the hang of it, it was a piece of cake, and the transition to a keyboard was easy, but being a stickler for details and correct spelling, tiny devices today are a major challenge to me. I love my laptop.

Life choices. Where I live and when I finally got my act together with all those notes and little pieces of paper put together into stories, all this played a major role. At the time, indie publishing was still frowned upon as 2nd class citizenship in the publishing world, but waiting to be "discovered" by the big guys in NYC seemed like a death sentence to my creativity, so I plunged ahead. No regrets! At least not too many!

Smashwords has leaped over the abyss and made indie publishing that much easier, helping me the author make that connection: brain to "paper" to reader.

Writing allows me to communicate with others, to dialogue with them, all by arranging a few letters together in different patterns. That is my greatest joy of writing!

At the moment, it's a Kindle Fire HD. I like the expandable text feature so I can read comfortably without squinting.

History mostly. History is life lived!

The author's presence is the best marketing technique. If the author is available to answer a potential reader's questions directly, chances are the person will buy a book.