Why I Started Writing:

I came into the writing world through the backdoor. In high school, I loved English and Literature. Without a clear direction, I didn’t go the way of the Literary Arts. I became a Fine Arts painter and used a palette filled with rich vibrant colors to tell stories. Instead of characters and words, I used a brush dipped in oils or watercolors to paint images and scenes. 

I painted for forty-five years and believed I would always be in the middle of a new project, and I’d have paint under my fingernails when I met Jesus. 

The romance for art paled as my heart craved to write. I had painted everything and done everything in the arts—hung in the best galleries, owned a signature art gallery, sold in the wholesale market, and taught private classes in my business and a vacation resort. 

I fell in love with writing, and I am still on my honeymoon.  As a late bloomer, without any formal training, I attended writing seminars, retreats, and conferences. I continue to grow as a writer. 

I wrote when I didn’t believe I was a writer. I interviewed artists and sent unsolicited articles to the Pagosa Springs SUN. They published them in their weekly newspaper. In 2008, they contacted me and asked if I would write a column, The Artist’s Lane. I could now say I am a writer. 

Authors Who Have Influenced Me:

The first author who influenced me to write was Francine Rivers. When I read her novel about Hosea, Redeeming Love, I knew I wanted to write. She created a fictional character on a story in the Bible. I had taught women the Bible, and I wanted others to fall in love with the Scriptures like I did. God’s words burned in my heart like Jeremiah. I couldn’t contain them. I had to write them. 

Secondly, when I read The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans, I wanted to write a western romance like he had. 

Books I Have Written:

I wrote what I knew. 

In 1992, my first undertaking for writing was the study of Ruth, Cameo, and the Song of Solomon, The King’s Chosen. My first novel was the story of Mary Magdalene, The Spirit of the Red Candle, Journal of Mary Magdalene. 

In 2018, I wrote the Heart Bender. I released Heart Bender as a trilogy in 2020. The stories are about art, romance, and mysteries surrounding the art world. 

I am published in three current anthologies: Twenty-Three Journeys to Christ, Looking at Life, and A Book of Remembrance. 

Living in the country since 1977, I felt the world had lost its true values, and I wanted to write about the kinder years. I desired to write a story of a hard-working country family who was unpretentious with strong values. I wrote The Curly Mustang, a novel, in 2022.  The story is of the Crawford family who works with horses and lives in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. This book will be released by Elk Lake Publishing, Inc.

What I'm Working On Now:

I have continued to write the story about the Crawford family and saving the Curly Sulphur Mustangs. The working title of my next book is The Story Not Dun. 

Weekly, I write an article for the Artist’s Lane in the Pagosa Springs SUN. 

Some of my short stories have been submitted to the Chicken Soup of the Soul.