I grew up in Fairvilla, a small suburb just north of Orlando, Florida. It was a simpler time in the 50's... what I like to call "the age of innocence." The first poem I remember writing was a song for the Christmas program at my 6th grade teacher's prompting. I'm sure I wrote other poems as I grew up, but none were saved.

I went to my first "Sunday School" in the office of a fertilizer plant down the street from our little house on Silver Star Rd. That house is still there. Sometimes I wish I was still there. I continued attending church at various places until a little Baptist church was built in my community. I was baptized there, taught Sunday School to little tots there, and was married there. These influences carried over into my poetry and you will find many spiritual poems in my various works.

Many years passed before I began writing again and saving some of my work. I was married with two children - a three year old son and a 21 month old son - when my second son died. Those were difficult days, months, years. I wrote my sorrow in rhyming words as tears flowed.

Two more children and a failing marriage later, poetry helped me cope. It's what I do to express my feelings when the spoken word is meaningless.

As time went on and life improved, some of my poetry became more playful and amusing as you will see in many of my books. Life isn't all bad. We need to smile too!

The greatest joy of writing for me is to touch another person's heart or see a smile on their face. I haven't written to sell a million copies. I've written to cry, to laugh, to educate, to express myself in whatever way my muse feels on any given day!

Previous to July, 2019 I would have said it was to care for my ailing husband. He passed away in July, 2019 so it's just me, two dogs and a cat now. Each day I wonder what may transpire in the next 24 hours and somehow I manage to find some little something to do each day, although most of it is just moving from one chair to another... the computer, the dining table, the sewing machine, the living room rocking chair, the porch rocking chair... etc. Luckily I have a few outside activities to attend... church each Sunday, my craft club each Tuesday, the Sunshine Clowns Alley once a month, a bereavement group once a month, visits with my daughter, and a multitude of friends who help me smile and give me lots of hugs.

Writing process? There is such a thing? I've often heard a phrase or a word from the pulpit which sparked a poem immediately and I would sit during the sermon and write it out on my Sunday Bulletin (program). I have often been sitting on the couch hand-quilting my latest creation when my muse turned my thoughts to something more poetic and I stop, put the quilt aside and write. That's why I always keep pen and paper nearby. There's just no rhyme nor reason to when or why I write... It just comes and I try to capture it!

I've always been a "do it yourself" kind of person. I will use a favorite photo of my own or seek permission to use one of a friend. Where templates are available, and I find one I like, I make use of them. However, I have also taught myself to design my own.

I have only used the Kindle e-reader and it has worked fine for me.

Unfortunately, book marketing is not in my budget. I write for my own pleasure and if someone else finds it and reads it occasionally... wonderful! All my books are available on Amazon. This use of Smashwords is my first venture into sending them out into the world via other means.

Oh, you don't want to go there! When I was a working girl, a secretary, I kept my desk neat at all times. I cannot say the same is true now that I have retired. Suffice to say I do both my writing and my sewing in this same room and seldom clean either area after each project is done!