Some years ago, I was driving the thirty plus miles to the school where I was a first grade teacher when I wondered if there was a better way to make a living. The fact that I lived in the wilderness of northern Minnesota and was driving down a lonely forest road through a rising blizzard may have had something to do with the direction of my thoughts during that drive. When I drove home through what was by then a full-blown Minnesota blizzard, those thoughts coalesced into a decision. I mean, have you ever been in a blizzard in the woods where no one will come to your rescue if anything happens? If so, you know how I felt.

I decided I’d rather enjoy watching the weather blowing past my window while writing than make that drive. So when the school year ended, I said goodbye to teaching and became a full-time, professional writer. I’ve never looked back.

Since that fateful decision, I’ve been a ghost writer, written confession stories, done editing, written advertising copy, written some non-fiction articles, written literary short stories and won the only literary contest I ever entered. All paid well enough though none gave me name recognition. I didn’t care at the time, but I learned that name recognition would be nice to have when the bricks and mortar publishing industry went bankrupt and my paychecks went up in smoke. Like many other writers, I decided to move to the electronic market and finally write the science fiction romances I always wanted to write.

I thought it would be an easy transition.

Wrong!!!!!

Though I enjoy the writing process and love watching a story come together and am pleased to be able to write what I wish instead of what is required by whatever publication I’m targeting, marketing is a thousand times more difficult than I ever thought possible. Okay, a million times more difficult, though I’m committed to this venue. I love doing everything myself. But I must admit that it would be easier if people had heard of me and I didn’t have to contact every single person on planet Earth myself to tell them I’m an author.

So thank you, Chris, the Story-Reading Ape, and others like you because you give me a place to showcase myself and, at the moment, my latest novel, Earth Legend, the third and last of the Legends series. They are now out of my mind and on paper and I loved everything about getting them there.

                                        

I loved reading about legends, gods and goddesses when I was a kid and I loved writing about them in this series. I loved creating an alien being that lives in a lake in the middle of the wilderness (Spirit Legend), a prehistoric dire wolf pup brought back from an alternate world (Wolf Legend), and a descendant of the goddess Ceres in Earth Legend. All became the main characters in the Legends series. All are different, all are stand-alone stories and all involve legends that turn out to be true.

And, incidentally, they are all clean reads. I briefly tried writing erotica but found it impossible to write while laughing so hard I ended up rolling on the floor. So I hope there are enough readers out there who prefer clean reads to keep me writing.

As for what genres my works fit into, the list is pretty long because I don’t write for a particular genre. I write stories. But some of the genres my work belongs in are:

Eco-fiction because the setting for my books invariably become one of the characters. The Minnesota wilderness in Spirit Legend, Wolf Legend, and Wanted Sharpshooter (about a rogue cougar stalking a horse training facility. My daughter rides so I learned a lot from her.) A space ship fifty miles long that’s one huge farm in Earth Legend. A forest that could be anywhere in When Dreams Come True (In which a woman dreams of a child lost in the forest where she grew up and, though her dreams, directs her to safety.)

                              

Science fiction / fantasy because there are elements of those in everything I write because the universe is a wondrous, glorious, mysterious place.

Romance because my characters always seem to end up in love. Don’t know why, they just do.

Contemporary because everything I write either takes place today or in the near future.

Clean for the aforementioned reason. I can’t write and laugh at the same time.

Literary because I sometimes enjoy writing for that genre. Sometimes.

Dystopian for some of my stories because I’m fascinated by the end of the world that ends not being the end of the world because people are survivors.

Childrens because I like kids and like writing for them. (Why Birds Fly)

                    

You see, I love telling stories. All kinds of stories. I don’t think I am capable of telling the same story more than once. I admire writers who do so, giving their readers story after story that follow the same general outlines. I simply can’t do the same. So, though my writing style is consistent and I promise readers of my work will always get a good read, the actual stories will vary.

So, when I push the handmade greeting cards my husband and I make and sell to one side and pull out my computer, I write whatever is foremost in my imagination. Then I publish electronically. Then I try to get the word out.

Sometimes I succeed.

You can find me online at:

My website/blog – Twitter – Facebook

Pinterest – Linkedin – Google+

Shelfari – Goodreads

You can find my books here:

Smashwords – Barnes & Noble

Amazon:

UK – USA – Canada – Australia