About Me.
In the 1970s, my dad made an announcement that shook the foundation of our home: he was quitting his reliable road construction job to pursue a career in art. In rural Pennsylvania. With a wife and six kids to feed. We thought Dad got a bad batch of diesel fumes or suffered a heat stroke. There was talk of a mid-life crisis. The word "insanity" was mentioned.
A few months later, our jaws dropped again, when SOLD signs graced the corners of every painting hanging on our walls. Mom hit "promoter" mode. My parents' marriage morphed into a business partnership. Ten years later, they started a fine art publishing company, an enterprise that thrived until their retirement.
Growing up in this environment, you would think I might follow in my artist-dad's footsteps. I thought so, too. I tried canine art, calligraphy, and even painted a few landscapes, but for all the lure of visual arts, it was words, and not oils, that became my favorite medium. In 1999, I finished my first full-length novel, certain it was destined to be a bestseller. I queried every literary agent drawing breath, only to be disappointed by rubber-stamped rejections on half-sheets of paper. (Well, shoot, that wasn't supposed to happen!)
Undaunted, I began anew, taking online writing courses and studying books about the craft. In 2014, after a 20% request rate, I signed with an agent, who sold my first novel to Soul Mate Publishing Company. In 2015, Soul Mate released my debut novel. In 2019, they released my fourth. The rest . . . well, the rest is unwritten.
All good art should make you feel something, and I hope my books do that for you. As I write, dear readers, I often think of you as my partners. Though I may stir up the words, you ultimately bring the final flourish--those distinct life experiences that will flavor your interpretation of the scenes laid out for you. What amazing and unforgettable journeys we create . . .
A few months later, our jaws dropped again, when SOLD signs graced the corners of every painting hanging on our walls. Mom hit "promoter" mode. My parents' marriage morphed into a business partnership. Ten years later, they started a fine art publishing company, an enterprise that thrived until their retirement.
Growing up in this environment, you would think I might follow in my artist-dad's footsteps. I thought so, too. I tried canine art, calligraphy, and even painted a few landscapes, but for all the lure of visual arts, it was words, and not oils, that became my favorite medium. In 1999, I finished my first full-length novel, certain it was destined to be a bestseller. I queried every literary agent drawing breath, only to be disappointed by rubber-stamped rejections on half-sheets of paper. (Well, shoot, that wasn't supposed to happen!)
Undaunted, I began anew, taking online writing courses and studying books about the craft. In 2014, after a 20% request rate, I signed with an agent, who sold my first novel to Soul Mate Publishing Company. In 2015, Soul Mate released my debut novel. In 2019, they released my fourth. The rest . . . well, the rest is unwritten.
All good art should make you feel something, and I hope my books do that for you. As I write, dear readers, I often think of you as my partners. Though I may stir up the words, you ultimately bring the final flourish--those distinct life experiences that will flavor your interpretation of the scenes laid out for you. What amazing and unforgettable journeys we create . . .
