In 1997. Before then, I couldn't even write a letter to a friend. I would blank out every time. Then, I got an idea to write a newsletter for artists to find opportunities in Orange County, California. Being an artist myself, it was hard to know where to go to get exposure for my work. After a month of my mother and sister-in-law telling me I could do it, I put the pencil down on a sheet of paper and didn't quit writing my 24-page newsletter, "Art Venues," for three years. I researched galleries and museums for their submission requirements, I interviewed artists, and I learned how to use the software to produce it. In the end, I gained confidence and the desire to write. It wasn't until 2003 that I met pioneer surfer, Mike Hynson, and co-star of the famed surf flick, "The Endless Summer," that I started writing my first book, "Mike Hynson-Transcendental Memories of a Surf Rebel."

Even though Mike Hynson was a celebrated surfer back in the Sixties, after finishing his book I learned very quickly that there wasn't much of a market for surf books. So I started a self-publishing company, Endless Dreams Publishing, and produced it myself.

Since then, I've found there are so many venues for indie authors to utilize and still achieve success.

I got the idea for "Orphans of the Sahara," when a friend told me a story that happened to her. She was five years old in 1960. Her mother, who loved to gamble, would leave her in their car to babysit her two younger siblings, overnight in the parking lot of a Las Vegas Casino. I couldn't help but wonder how many kids were actually left in cars back then in Las Vegas. It wasn't illegal. It took a while to come up with the whole story of the "Orphans of the Sahara," but the title hit me almost immediately.

Smashwords has contributed in so many ways. To name a couple, it has given me a widespread platform to present my books to the world, and distribution that would take me much more time to accomplish.

There are a couple of things that are relaxing and therapeutic to me. One is painting, another is writing. I could write for hours. Also, at certain times when I sit down to write, it amazes me that words just flow from my mind to my fingertips and onto the paper. I don't know where they came from, they just come out.

You're finally taken seriously because of your fans. They read your book late into the night because they can't put it down. They tell-a-friend about your latest novel. They are the ones who determine whether you'll achieve your dream of becoming a professional writer. They're priceless.

I'm writing the sequel to Orphans of the Sahara, which takes place thirty-some years after seven-year old, Annie Reyes is abandoned in the parking lot of the Sahara Casino. As founder of the Orphans of the Sahara Foundation, an organization to fight child abandonment, she is called upon to investigate a case of abandonment and kidnapping of her own granddaughter...with a little help from her friends, the original Orphans.

Dan Brown is one of my favorite authors. The way he ends each chapter keeps you wanting more.

I paint portraits, climb stairs at the beach, and stand up paddle.