Why I Started Writing:

As a retired teacher, and later, principal, I always enjoyed teaching writing and encouraging my students to work hard, set goals, and discover their gifts. Now that I have a little more time in my retirement years (kind of), I finally decided to connect my keyboard to the ideas floating around in my brain. My own love of writing emerged at a very personal level as I embraced new writing goals, doing the hard work as I encouraged my students to do.

Authors Who Have Influenced Me:

Going back to my childhood, Beverly Cleary (the Henry and Ribsy and Ramona books) and Carolyn Haywood (the Eddie and Betsy books) unquestionably advanced my love of reading. I would save my babysitting money and purchase these authors’ books for fifty cents, and my childhood book collection grew. In my adult years, my personal love of reading flourished, even extending to reading to my children and grandchildren. Today, Patricia Polacco, renowned children’s author, has influenced me to preserve family stories through blogging and writing children’s picture books.

Books I Have Written:

Talitha, the Traveling Skirt, was my first published book.  To create a fun tale for young children, I personified a little skirt that has traveled around in our family for three generations, more than seventy years. Four more "traveling" books followed, all centering around objects in my family that have traveled through three generations: Harvey, the Traveling Harmonia, Roxie, the Traveling Rocker, Angelina, the Traveling Angel, and Vinny, the Traveling Violin. In addition to my children's books, Elk Lake has published Unintended Hero, Her Strength Within, and Waves of Faith.

What I'm Working On Now:

In addition to blogging on my website, writing devotions for Guideposts, and submitting articles to "The Country Register", I am currently working on a WWII historical romance series: Hearts of Mare Island. Waves of Peace and Waves of Hope are in the works.