Born in California in 1961, I missed the sixties entirely. Considering I’m a dyed-in-the-wool introvert, I still debate whether or not this was a good thing. A part of me vicariously thrills at the idea of protests and sit-ins and the like. Still, I’m a stodgy loner which kind of goes against the hippy free-love thang. All things considered, I guess it was a positive. Instead I spent my teenaged years ala “Dazed and Confused.”

As a child, I pined for the artistic things – singing, sculpture, drawing, and writing. I had a high potential for a liberal or fine arts degree. That potential was nurtured by a mother who enjoyed painting and crafts, and a father who aspired at one time to write science fiction. I spent the majority of my childhood traveling the wilds of Idaho and attaining the dubious joy of attending twelve schools in twelve years until my eventual blessed graduation. Shunning college, I spent the next few years kicking around, making the mistakes all young adults do, and finding hard rock. (Sorry, Olivia and Barry. Def Leppard and Van Halen are where it’s at.)

After a stint in the military (US Army, Military Police,) I hooked up with a wonderful woman who taught me many things, first and foremost the ability to love myself. We’ve been together twenty-three years (!), and have been through a commitment ceremony, a wedding on the steps of the courthouse, and are now considered domestic partners. I eventually gave college a go, attending community college in Oregon. My aim was to become a psychologist, but I made the tragic mistake of taking art classes to fill my Humanities requirement. I fell madly in love with airbrush. I made a decent showing as a professional artist/illustrator. Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, we were forced to move into a very small loft apartment in another city. There was no room for the airbrush equipment, so it was packed away.

Back in the real world, I wasn’t able to refrain from creating, despite the fact that all my art gear was in boxes under the stairs. Out of boredom, I cruised the internet (my biggest addiction) in search of something to do, all the while becoming more and more of a witch (with a capital ‘B’.) It wasn’t long before I stumbled across fan fiction. That kept me entertained for a month or two, but I ran out of new stories! (Yeah, you young whippersnappers don’t remember the dark days of the interwebz!) To fill the void, I began writing my own stories, posting them at various clearinghouses. Two years after Tiopa Ki Lakota was written, I was approached by a publisher, and off to the presses we went!

Since then, I’ve made a conscious attempt to write rather than draw. The airbrush equipment has been sold and my computer has been upgraded to an Apple. I’ve published four books to date. Soon to see the light of day will be Broken Trails through PD Publishing, and the Sanguire series via Bella Books. I’ve got a lot of work to do!