I am extremely excited to be trying Smashwords for the first time. After attending a writers' conference in Tucson with CEO Mark Coker, I learned much about e-book publishing, it's changes over the last decade, and the opportunities it opens for me as a long-time author.

Humor is a point of view with laugh out loud moments being healthy, stress-relieving and good for all relationships. I learned to look for and read humor from my mom. The stories I use are true, written in a fiction style, but with names, places, and sometimes the roles changed.

A focus on looking for humor helps with seeing it around me such as: a funeral with a grandchild stealing the show while his mother has no clue of the drama going on behind her; getting hopelessly lost with a GPS and ended up nose-to-nose with a 747 at the end of the runway; true stories of love and courtship; a husband’s first attempt to grill hotdogs when he is used to boiling them. The pressure of having a humorous blog published each Sunday by 5 a.m. on http://www.button-to-god.com does squeeze the creative juices to produce.

Two other books will be published in 2017: Lighten Up and Laugh: A Healing Tickle for Your Funny Bone, which captures life’s humorous moments for all ages and Bring on the Blessings of Baskets ~ Easy, Fast Personalized Gifts or Outreach Ministry Gifts. This crafts, how-to book not only details for everyone how to create a one-of-a-kind gift quickly for many special occasions or needs, but gives the how-to of adapting gift baskets to church or community outreach programs and how to run them. A nice extra are Jo's "Tickle My Funny Bone" stories.

My basic philosophy is that much religious material is so full of clichés, it has little meaning and that the reader would be in great danger of napping during the paragraphs. So I eliminate the clichés, write in plain language with humorous stories and illustrations. No napping needed! Yet the reader will understand clearly and have some “Oh, Wow!” moments as well on concepts. Because I have written for the Christian market for over twenty years and have been repeatedly assigned and published in Barbour anthologies, I know that humor helps and makes the reading more fun.

Two reasons: the critters are hungry (2 cats, 2 dogs); the adventure of seizing the day and the joy of life!

A focus on looking for humor helps with seeing it around me such as: a funeral with a grandchild stealing the show while his mother has no clue of the drama going on behind her; getting hopelessly lost with a GPS and ended up nose-to-nose with a 747 at the end of the runway; true stories of love and courtship; a husband’s first attempt to grill hotdogs when he is used to boiling them.

When did you first start writing? In my last year of high school, with a heavy load of academic classes, I took what I thought would be an easy A without effort: creative writing. The teacher immediately assigned us 1500 words a week. At the end of the semester, I was ready to take a break. But the teacher buttonholed me and commented, “Don’t quit! You have more natural talent than anyone in the class!”

In my early twenties, I was reading a favorite magazine and thought, “I can write as well or better than this!” So my first article was accepted and published. It launched my interest and persistence in writing—from hundreds of articles to books and commercial writing for others.

Though I would like to say that I outline, plan and progress in a logical manner, a long-time friend commented that I am so right-brained it should be against the law. So that means the logic and proper organization sometimes comes later, but essential because I write non-fiction.

I keep it simple because the images are shown so small and hire a professional. In the case of Give Us This Day, the original design showed a hot pink ball, which would certainly discourage men from reading this book. I ran the design and changes by men in the ministry. They liked the bright yellow smiley face.

I learned to write fiction-style stories by reading fiction, such as cozy mysteries, romance, humor, and anecdotes.

Time. Publishers today take their time to peruse potential books, turning down many worthwhile ones. Regardless of the publisher, big or small, an author is responsible for marketing. An indie author has more control over the book and it can be published faster.

My father was career military so up until I was 12, we criss-crossed the country, settling in Santa Ana, California for about five years and Yuma, Arizona, where my father retired and we put down roots when I was 12. My mother began working in Civil Service after the move to Yuma. She always recorded experiences in a journal, wrote anecdotes, which were published, and later went on to write three books. My father had the stories, too, but he told them instead of wrote them down.

My favorite fiction authors are Debbie MacComber, J.A.Jance, Donna Fluke, and Laura Childs. My favorite non-fiction author are the God-inspired words of the Bible.

Besides writing and speaking around the region, I enjoy quilting, going to lunch with a Red Hats group, camping, traveling and going to car shows.

Yes. While in high school taking a creative writing class as a teen, I wrote a humorous story about seniors citizens' behavior attending a concert. The teacher laughed so much that his drinking water was coming out of his nose. Today, I am one of those senior citizens.

It always shows signs of a struggle. I avoid taking guests anywhere near it, but comment, "While I went to Walmart this morning, someone trashed the place! Let's continue the house tour on the other wing."