Although I now reside in Arizona, some of my favorite memories are of growing up in small Midwestern towns--Iowa, Missouri, Illinois--and vacations spent in another rural community with the Texan side of the family. I can trace my love of storytelling to the many times a houseful of great aunts and uncles gathered with my Iowa grandma to share hours of what they called "windjammers" -- candid, heartwarming, poignant, and often humorous tales of their youth and young adulthood.

Before I could read, I composed "stories" on my grandparents' old manual Remington typewriter and my mom circled any actual words I'd accidentally created! By third grade I received my first by-line for a poem in a church newsletter and, along with my creatively inclined sister and cousins, was soon writing short stories as well as plays to be performed in Grandma's basement "theater."

On down the road, my writing contest entries began to garner awards in the unpublished division of Romance Writers of America. But in 1998 the dream of publication took an abrupt nose dive. Debilitating illness swept in. But my God is a faithful God. Following a lengthy "sabbatical," the writing dream was reborn as a heart for storytelling with an inspirational slant. Once again writing recognitions surfaced, including the 2006 first place wins in American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis and RWA Faith Hope & Love's Touched by Love.

Then in December 2008 I was notified that my entry in The Golden Pen had been selected for first place by the finals judge, an editor from Steeple Hill Books who requested to see the full manuscript! I shipped it off in January 2009 and a week after it arrived on her New York City doorstep, I got "the call" that Dreaming of Home would be an October 2009 release!

I've had a long and winding journey to publication, sometimes wondering along the way if it would ever come to pass. But I've learned that God's delays are not necessarily God's denials. Now I'm delighted to be able to share my stories with readers. I hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them!