Ikea glass desk top with the word "Love" written in several languages as a design that sits on sets of black and white draws . A standing file with important papers to keep me focused on adulting chores like paying bills. Piles of weekly newspapers and business cards picked up from networking events and books of course books....my current favs are annotated versions of Jane Eyre and Alice in Wonderland. My laptop sits in the middle with a pad in front where my cat like to sprawl out to keep me company and look out the window.

I grew up in a little town outside of Yosemite National Park. It's beautiful and rural surrounded by forest. I spent most days exploring outside and inventing stories about the animals and insects I found, climbed and napped in trees, got handy at knife throwing and finding feathers. At night the TV was blaring and my family huddled around it watching sci classics as my mom cooked up a storm and my dad tended the wood stove. My mom would often write pieces of Star Trek novels and read them to me, but never finished them. I thought they were very good, but for all my urging I could never get her to submit anything. I thought that was maddening, so I vowed that if I wrote something I would finish it and find a way to get it out into the world.

It was so silly! My grandparents would take me and my siblings and cousins on little trips in their RV and I'd take a tons of pictures and get double prints. One time I chopped one set up and did a collage and arranged them in funny ways and wrote a story about what really happen on that family vacation. I remember seeing it in my archive box of old family photos a few years ago and laughed so hard at the absurdity of it, I was such a kooky kid!

So many favorites! When I was a kid I loved Roald Dahl and Judy Blume and of course the fairytales. But also I was the weird kid in the class that checked out books on ghosts, ESP and spontaneous human combustion. When I was in my teens went through a time where I was addicted to Beatrice Small because my mom read her books and I picked one up and started reading it. It was shocking to me! Those historical romance novels revealed time and places I had no idea were real, plus the smut lol! After I read every single one of her books I found paranormal romance fascinating. Authors Christine Feehan, Maggie Shayne and Sherilyn Kenyon had me absolutely obsessed. I remember skipping socializing with friends and going to parties so I could read, I'd devour a book in 2 or 3 days and stay up way too late and be tired the next day at work.

When I met my fiance who is a non fiction writer. Unlike most writers he never really had to work a day job, he always made ends meet with his writing which amazed me. I found out quickly that you have to have a supreme amount of discipline to make that work. TV was forbidden in his house and I had to give up mine when I moved in with him. And he would gently remind me when I got addicted to social media that there was more to life than that. He offered to use his expert editing skills on anything I wrote if I wanted to give it a try. So I started writing in an attempt to entertain myself. On public radio that night there was a writing prompt for 3 minute fiction, so I gave it a whirl. I didn't win the contest but I won by opening a door to a joy I had no idea was there. And it was amazing!

Automatic writing! It's classified as a phenomena and until you experience it you just don't know what that means. I'd start to write a story, thinking I had it all figured out and I was in control of the story. But something happens to me when I write, the story takes over! My sense of adventure let's it happen, I'm curious where it is taking me. Characters spring to life with traits and wacky motivations and I just laugh, it's like they are alive. I love it when I'm writing and laughing because it feels like I've had a bit too much to drink and I'm dancing to the beat of the music in the helpless way you do when surrender to the joy of it and just jam!

Reinventing holiday mythology. The holidays have become so commercialized that most people don't know how they started or what they were originally intended for. It's closely related to how I wrote Fabulously Fractured Fairytales. The process starts with researching the origins and history of a story and leads me to reinvent it my way which is based on the past and stands in the future. I like to have fun with my stories and I can never be too sure where they will go so I keep an open expectation. So far I have St.Patricks day and Easter done. Easter was a challenge. How do you bridge the gap between the Easter Bunny and the resurrection of Christ? Well you'll have to read it when I finish the rest of the holiday stories. I will tell you that it's not for young kids lol!

If I have a day job, I'm doing that. Usually some type of sales or customer service. Secondly is climbing, always climbing! If I'm living in the country it's grabbing my fiance and finding a crag, sometimes it's just a hike. If I'm living in a city it's off the the climbing gym, I love the way the sport challenges you and how it's a workout for your mind as well as your body. Then it's figuring out food, I'm a foodie so I'm always trying to find really fresh produce and try new food carts and restaurants. Then I'm home in the evenings battling the temptation of constant social media updates and youtubing while I try to buckle down and write something.

The possibilities! What am I going to learn today? Who am I going to meet? What am I going to write? Will I finally be able to do that super hard climb at the gym? Is there time for a walk or hike? And if so, what kinds of pictures will I take? I love taking pictures! And most importantly what am I going to eat!

Creative outlet! We all need a creative way to express ourselves, I found writing and photography were mine. Patience is not one of my virtues so I choose to self publish just so I could move on with my life and onto the next project. One day I hope to write childrens book and have them professionally published. Stay tuned!