Why I Started Writing:

I started writing when I was home for eight years taking care of my daughter Melissa after she was injured in an accident at the age of twelve. After the initial shock and subsequent new life this situation created for my family, I found I was looking for a creative, fun outlet. 

I always loved writing and especially enjoyed rhyming.   I started doing custom poetry and prose for family and friends for special occasions. These occasions ranged from eulogies to birthdays, graduations, retirements, new babies, etc. 

Tales From The Clearing was my first attempt at writing stories. They just came to me one night when I was sleeping. I woke up and realized I had the basis for the first three stories already written in my head. For this reason, I believe these stories were given to me by my Higher Power. For this reason more  than any others, I felt it was very important for me to pursue them. I feel they were given to me not to sit in a drawer but  to be shared with others. Upon reflection, after having written them, I realize that a lot of what I was writing about were things I was experiencing with my daughter and with my family and with family and friends. That was not my intent however, that was how they were given to me. And I believe it is the reason they were given to me. At a very chaotic, scary, and disruptive time in my life, I was given these gentle stories and these peaceful characters to embrace and to write about. 

Authors Who Have Influenced Me:

In regard to the authors who have influenced me,  the Winnie the Pooh stories and stories such as Velveteen Rabbit, Steadfast Tin Soldier were always among my perennial favorites. I like their gentleness. I like the universality of their messages. 

Books I Have Written:

The only other books I have written were self-published by me and my nephew, who did all of the artwork. We published them on Create Space, and they're available on Amazon. They are Monkeys In The Fridge and The Tale Of Static Kitty. These are rhyming stories that were based on illustrations my nephew had done when he was in college. I took those images and created a story around them. They were the catalyst. That was a lot of fun, and it was especially fun, because I was doing this with my nephew, Brian.  To date, those are the only two books I have ever written. However there are another two to three stories in the Tales From The Clearing collection that I have yet to transform into rhyming picture books from their current format. 

What I'm Working On Now:

What I'm working on now is transforming the remaining stories that I currently have from my Tales From The Clearing collection into rhyming picture books. I also have another collection of poetry called Teach Me. These are rhyming verses about the things that mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, etc., have to teach to a young child. They could very easily be transformed into picture books. As framed pieces, these have been some of my most popular requests of all the poetry I have created. And everytime my friends and family give them as gifts they tell me that I should give a box of tissues along with them because inevitably they make the recipient cry!