Why I Started Writing:

I was nine years old when my parents took me to a dairy. It was a grand adventure, so to remember the experience, I wrote a few facts about cows and drew a detailed picture of one. My mother framed it, and it is still, to this day, in my office. As I got older, journaling became a way to record ideas, clarify plans, and debrief after a hard day. To earn credit for graduate school, I signed up to write a master’s thesis for my degree in Speech Communication. My goal was to finish it in a semester, but it took over a year. My advisor was patient, and he taught me how to edit, revise, and refine my work. As a community college professor, one goal was to keep my writing sharp by attending a series of Christian writers’ conferences. In May 2017, I heard God say, “Write for me.” Now, I write for him.

Authors Who Have Influenced Me:

Jerry Jenkins’ Left Behind Series is an all-time favorite. I am a member of Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild and signed up for his “Dreamer to Author” program. Watching his prerecorded and live programing is like having a personal writing coach.

Valerie Coulman (When Pigs Fly) and I met through a Christian writers’ conference where she was speaking about writing for children. She was very encouraging when we connected via Zoom, and she told me to keep working on an early draft of The Two-Cent Piece manuscript Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. ultimately published.

Jacqueline Woodson (Show Way) affected my perspective of children’s literature when I heard her give a keynote address to a writers’ conference at UCLA. I still remember my positive reaction as she read excerpts from her book.

Dr. Seuss makes me smile.

Cecil Murphey (Unleash the Writer Within and together with Ben Carson he wrote Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story) is a wonderful writer who offered sound advice to help me on my writing journey.

Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal) and Irving Stone (The Agony and the Ecstasy) wrote vivid descriptions of historical places in Europe and made their characters come alive.

Spencer Johnson, M.D. and Kenneth Blanchard (Who Moved My Cheese) motivated me to make their book required reading for college students in my classes in interpersonal communication.

Dave Ramsey (The Total Money Makeover) inspired me to live debt free.

Gary Keller, with Jay Papasan (The One Thing) and Brain P. Moran and Michael Lennington (The 12-Week Year) helped improve my prioritization, goal setting, and time management skills.

Books I Have Written:

The Two-Cent Piece is the first of seven children’s picture books in the In God We Trust Series coming from Elk Lake Publishing, Inc.

What I'm Working On Now:

The Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. team will soon be helping me edit and prepare for publication the second manuscript in the In God We Trust Series of children’s books.

“The Wisdom Prayer Challenge,” on my website, is a clarion call to believers to pray for wisdom daily.

My newsletter is emailed every other week.

I write and rewrite manuscripts for two read-and-critique groups.