Now to tell you a little about me...
I'm a five foot nine inches, 115 pounds female with auburn-hair and green eyes. Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom regularly argue over who's going to take me to the next Academy Awards.
Okay, now to the truth...
I'm a five foot, four, mumble-mumble pounds female with gray hair and dark brown eyes. And Brad and Orlando wouldn't know me if they fell over me!
Oh, well, at least the "female" part is correct.
Actually, I'm like most of you...a combination of roles and identities.
- I'm the divorced mother of two wonderful sons, Frank and David, grandmother to six, and great-grandmother to six.
- I'm a pediatric nurse who has cared for sick, injured, and dying children for over 25 years.
- I'm a former Marine, a citizen of Oklahoma, and someone most people approach with a wary eye and a whip and a chair. I have a weird sense of humor, a life-long love of children, little patience for the diddly-squat, and a rigid (some call a priggish) sense of integrity.
- I'm an original member of the Great Broads of the Galaxy, the greatest sisterhood in the universe. Love you all!
- I love butterflies, dolphins, ancient/Medieval European history, Celtic music, fantasy creatures, and books...in all forms and formats.
- I like rainbows, waterfalls, cooking, filking (If you're SF fans, you know what filking is. If you're not, feel free to ask.), walks in the rain, movies, and books...in all forms and formats.
- I hate spiders, house-cleaning, bigotry, being late, liver and onions, and not having books...in any form or format.
- I'm a loyal friend, a dangerous enemy, a lazy voter, and a voracious reader. But most of all, I'm a writer.
I can't even remember when I started writing, but I know I didn't start letting others (except teachers, and you can't stop them!) reading my stuff until I fell in love with Star Trek. When the original series ended, I wrote my own ST short stories, all of which were published in some of the many amateur magazines ST fans put out. Then I took the next step; I edited/published my own SF/ST 'zine, SOL PLUS.
After that, there was no holding me back. My second love beyond SF/ST had always been Romance, so it wasn't too long until I decided "I can do that!" I took classes, studied, went to conferences...all the usual things writers do to become published. I joined Northeastern Oklahoma Romance Authors, Romance Writers of America, Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc., and The Vicious Circle, the meanest, baddest critique group in the world.
And in 1995, I got the Call.
My first book came out in 1996, and the rest is history. Since then I've gone from print to the exciting new world of electronic books. I'm also a member of the Authors' Guild, Published Author Network, Romance Writers Ink, Futuristic, Fantasy, & Paranormal Chapter of RWA, Electronic Published Internet Connection, and Web Writing Women.
Now, I dream of writing stories for all the heroes who now clamor inside my mind. So watch for them...soon, I'll be sending romances in all flavors out to the world---Historical, Paranormal, Suspense, and more Contemporaries. Until then, I'm as happy as a speckled pup knee deep in clover. My kids are grown and happy, I'm footloose and free, and I'm doing the thing I love best...writing Romances.