A Kentucky native, I grew up and raised my family in Cincinnati, Ohio. 34 years ago, I moved to a quaint, bustling tourist town high in the Colorado mountains.

Footprints in the Frost

Footprints in the Frost

Originally I only wrote poems. I was not able to simply sit down and write a poem. They would come to me, 100% intact, usually at night or in the early hours of some morning.

I've been writing professionally for 25 years, originally focusing on articles for magazines or journals. I joined the Public Safety Writers Association (known then as The Police Writers Club) in 1994 and branched out into areas more in depth.

I adore all animals, domestic and wild. We live inside a National Forest and our home adjoins the actual woods. We have all sorts of critters ambling across our deck, including bears, deer, mountain lions and Bighorn sheep. We have birds of all sorts. This year we have doves for the very first time.

I've always had a Siamese cat in my life. Once you live with a Siamese cat, it becomes an addiction. My first was a female, Sheba, who lived to be 18 years old. Then came a male, Ching Lee, who passed at 17. Presently, we are owned by a male, Kichai, who is 11 years old and spoiled rotten. We flew him in from Arkansas to Salt Lake City and then Grand Junction, CO.

Dogs have also been important in my life. We owned Norwegian Elkhounds for many years. As snow dogs, they absolutely have to live outdoors and cannot tolerate the heat inside a house. When the last one died, we decided that if we ever have another dog, it must be tolerant of living inside.

I once owned a commercial building that housed my bookstore, an apartment and a second commercial rental. I loved the bookstore business and learned a tremendous amount about marketing books, which came in handy after I became a published author.

My oldest grandchild died tragically at age 21 when he fell 100 feet off a mountain ledge in the pitch black of night while celebrating July 4th. He died instantly from a skull fracture in the wee hours of the morning of July 5, 2010, his mother's (my daughter's) birthday. He was born on my son's birthday. I wrote my first book WE ARE DIFFERENT NOW about my journey with the grief of his death.

I believe in angels because I've held one in my arms. I also believe that angels do walk among us and you should always welcome strangers into your life.

My new book FOOTPRINTS IN THE FROST was originally written in 1998. I'd never written a book before, so put it aside. Coming across it early in 2014, I gave it the acid test by entering it in the PSWA Writing Competition. If it bombed there, that was to be the end of it. It was awarded First Place in the Fiction Non-published Book category and now is proudly out there on the market.