Why I Started Writing:

Doesn’t everyone have a lifelong dream of writing a book? In my 20s I paid $10 for a how-to manual for becoming a published author, guaranteed. I read that manual cover to cover but never got past the first step: Write a book. I just didn’t know what I wanted to write—maybe I was too young. Although I’ve written plenty of short essays, journalistic articles, and Bible studies over the years, I simply couldn’t think of any content I was passionate enough about to fill an entire book, even a short one.

Fast forward many years. One day my husband pitched the idea of retiring early, hitching up a 5^th wheel, and traveling the U.S. full-time. I loved my job at a counseling center, so I knew if I agreed to his plan, I would need something to retire to—I couldn’t imagine sitting by a campfire night after night with nothing purposeful to occupy me. With my husband’s blessing, I decided to invest in a writing coach to help refine my ideas, purpose, and goals for a book. It paid off! I soon had a mission statement and a book outline. We retired, hit the road, and I found my encore career in writing.

Authors Who Have Influenced Me:

As a kid, nothing made me feel so rich as when I had a stack of unread books from the library on my dresser. Fiction is my favorite, and I also enjoy biographies, Christian growth books, and the Bible. In the Christian nonfiction realm, like millions of people, I’ve been impressed by Priscilla Shirer, Max Lucado, and C.S. Lewis for their engaging styles of writing. These three and many other Christian authors demonstrate a heavenly gift of communicating intricate, in-depth truths; in effect, giving the rest of us the opportunity to gain understanding far beyond what we’re capable of on our own.

Books I Have Written:

Turning Your Inner Bullies Into Allies So You Can Love Like Jesus is my first book, contracted by Elk Lake Publishers.

Three of my articles have also been published in two different anthology books in 2024.

What I'm Working On Now:

Turning Your Inner Bullies Into Allies simply begged to have a discussion guide for study groups, so that’s my current project along with marketing activities for the book. I am also pursuing article-writing for Christian websites and noodling the idea of writing a book or two about our adventures as sailors and full-time RVers—we’ve got plenty of life metaphors to share from those adventures.