Bio

I remember the first time I saw the ocean. It was at Oceanside, California. My siblings and I ran laughing and squealing down to the beach, but were stunned into silence at the water's edge by the intense vision of sand, waves, ships, and the pier. "Why didn't I bring anything to write on?” I thought. “How can I remember all of this without writing it down?" 

The mountains are a different story; they are so familiar to me, I don't remember a time when I "first" saw them. I do have a vivid memory, though, of first "smelling" the mountains. We were on a trip from Chandler, Arizona to Creede, Colorado. My siblings and I were asleep in the back of a pickup camper. I woke up when the pickup stopped, and I remember wondering if something was wrong. My dad opened the camper door, urging us to hurry so we wouldn't miss "it." The air was crisp. We shivered, rubbed our eyes, and looked around to see what he was so excited about. My dad put his arms up to the sky and shouted, "Take a deep breath! This is Colorado!" At the time, I had no idea where we were. Now I know that we were at the summit of Wolf Creek Pass as the sun was coming up, experiencing my father's intoxication with the smell of damp earth, pine trees, and fresh air. Each time I step out into a crisp Colorado morning, I breathe deeply and smile at the memory of my father's joy, thinking, "I've got to record this."

The ocean and the mountains - what do they have to do with my bio? They are snippets of a thrilling life and a personality compelled to record it. In a nutshell, I grew up in a wild, unpredictable family and married young. My husband and I have a gorgeous family, a spoiled Boston Terrier, and a fifth-wheel in which we travel full-time. 

Friends and colleagues tell me all the time, "You should write a book!" I laugh and respond with the old cliché, "No one would believe it." Each morning, I wake up from vivid dreams, thinking, "I've got to write this down." And each evening, I think about my day and tell myself, "I've got to write that down." That is the story of me.