I loved to write as a kid. In high school and college, my writing was limited to journals and school papers. I rediscovered my love for writing stories when I was in my 30s. I had always dreamed of writing a book, but didn't think I could do it. One day I found NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I pledged to myself and my husband that I would "win" and I did it! This book is that story after many rewrites and much editing.

Of course, I dreamed of submitting my work to an agent who would fall in love with my writing and find me a fabulous traditional contract. It took one form-letter rejection for me to wake up. I attended an online writers' conference where most of the attendees and speakers were either indie authors or people in the industry who help them with editing, formatting and so on. It was there that I realized this could be done. Since a traditional publisher was unlikely to put much promotion money behind my project (even if I could find one to take me on), I decided to publish myself. It has been a learning experience every step of the way, but I have found that most people are willing to help and share their knowledge.

I don't have any yet, I don't think. But to have someone fall in love with my story would be the greatest success!

I have written five novels, all for middle-grade readers or young adult. The rest are currently in very rough first draft form. I plan on attacking my second novel with revisions as soon as I get this one out into the world.

Where to begin?
I love Nora Roberts, Jodi Piccoult, Tami Hoag, JK Rowling, Charles de Lint... the list goes on. I am all over the place with genres that I read and love. Kids books, young adult, the classics, contemporary fiction, nonfiction. I have always been a firm believer that if there is something you are curious about, you can find a book about it and learn more.

Reading, of course!
I do have a full-time day job as the practice manager for a group of physicians. That keeps me hopping. When I am not working, or writing, I love to quilt. I also enjoy attempting to play piano, violin, ukelele, mandolin and any other instrument that my husband and I can find.

I have thousands of ebooks, and thousands of print books. I find them all the same ways. Recommendations by friends, magazines, searches, blog posts, and so on. My wish list for more ebooks is also huge!

It seems like most writing articles will tell you that to be a writer you have to write daily. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work out with your daily schedule. I find I am often too worn out from the day job to sit down and write afterwards. Weekends are sometimes so filled with to-dos that I don't get time to sit down. I think you are a writer even if you only mange to write a few hours a week, a few minutes a day. Even if I am not at the computer, I am often still thinking about my work in progress or my next blog post. I may be researching a topic that I want to weave into a plot. I may be reading a book that will help me improve a specific area of my writing. All of that goes in to my writing process. I will say that NaNoWriMo is often the kick in the butt I need to get the rough draft down. It helps me get out of my own way. There is plenty of time for revision later.

The first story I ever read by myself was Go, Dog, Go. I remember being so thrilled that I could decipher those magical patterns on the page that I immediately read it again to my mom, and later to my dad when he got home from work. It has been a love affair with books and words ever since.

My desk is wherever I happen to sit my laptop or my Alphasmart Neo! We do have a desk but it is also where I write out bills. I don't usually sit there to write. During NaNo, I use my Neo. I am so sad that they stopped making those wonderful devices! I do a lot of writing at the kitchen table (where I am right now!) as long as my cats give me space and allow me to focus.