During the week, my days are spent ensuring that nurses all over the state of Oregon are getting the best opportunities for training and additional education. Nurses are amazing people—people who care deeply about their patients, their profession, and mentoring young people to join the profession. At night and on the weekends, I journey into the world of my imagination and write novels that reflect my passions and my belief that the good guys win in the end and that love will conquer all.
Growing up I had the reputation for being a "goody-two-shoes." Some people rebel against that reputation, but I revelled in it. I didn't have fantasies of being a "bad" girl, and I never dreamed of growing up to marry a rich man. My parents raised me with the belief that I could be whoever I wanted and accomplish anything. I have tested that belief many times through careers in psychology, acting, computer programming, and now helping nursing faculty to teach through distance education. I've always been one who loved my life no matter where it took me.
Both triumph and tragedy have shaped me into who I am. Like most women, I've survived illness, heartache, and dissapointment. And somehow I found real love and passion in the end. Yes, the kind that you read about in romance novels really does exist!
Writing has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. I probably got the bug to publish when I was in 4th grade and placed second in a national writing contest. I was invited to read my story at an assembly and I thought, "Now, this would be the life." However, publication came first for me in the form of non-fiction articles in magazines and newspapers and eventually in books (four have been published to date). I still write non-fiction in my daytime career, but fiction is where I expend most of my creative writing energy these days.
I've published several short stories in romance and science fiction, but I'm still pursuing that first novel publication. I completed my first novel in 2004, which is thankfully under the bed as a learning experience. However, since then I have completed four others ready for publication. I'm confident I will find a publisher soon.