Biography
I'm
a corporate drone and cubicle dweller with a romantic soul.
I read and write romance because I crave good love stories with
happy endings. The creative energy of writing allows my mind
to escape the reality of my everyday world, at least for a while.
Reading
opened a whole new wonderful world to me as a child. I read
anything and everything I could get my hands on, even cereal
boxes. When I got older I haunted the main library in downtown
Wilmington, Delaware. I can still feel the rush of excitement
every time I walked through the large doors and inhaled the
scent of thousands of books.
There
is a classic episode from the TV show Twilight Zone
that fills me with horror to this day. A bookworm survives a
nuclear attack while he's in a library, only to have his glasses
break.
He's surrounded by all those books and can't see to read them.
This is the stuff of my nightmares.
As
a preteen and teen I loved the young adult romance novels of
Elizabeth Howard. When I was twelve I wrote Ms. Howard a fan
letter and told her I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't have
a typewriter. She wrote back that I didn't need a typewriter
to be an author. Ms. Howard's heroines were always feisty and
smart.
I wanted to be like them.
I
also loved the Judy Bolton books written by Margaret Sutton.
I still have all thirty-three of my beloved Judy books. Judy
was feisty and smart and solved mysteries.
For
as long as I can remember I've made up stories in my head. Most
were love stories. I became an ardent fan of old Thirties and
Forties romantic comedies that played on late-night TV when
I was growing up. I went through my “mystery reading”
phase, my “Zane Grey western" phase, my "spy"
phase. But romances have always been my favorites. Romance novels
are life affirming and deliver happy endings. And what's wrong
with that? We get enough unhappiness and mayhem on the evening
news. Why not escape reality for a while with a good romance?
I
always dreamed of being a published author. I've worked in the
corporate world all my adult life, but the dream of seeing my
name on a book wouldn't die. In 1992 my friend Gwen and I were
reading some of the Harlequin romances. One day we looked at
each other and said, “We can write these." We soon
learned that it takes lots of talent and hard work to make something
look easy.
I
joined Romance Writers of America and absorbed all I could about
the craft of writing. I met many published authors who helped
and encouraged me. I entered contests and studied all aspects
of the publishing business. After ten long years of hard work,
rejections and disappointments, I sold my first book to Avalon.
Writing is the hardest work I've ever done, but the most rewarding.
Authors
are often asked where we get our ideas. I drew on a very small
incident from my high school days as inspiration for A Catered
Affair. I used the emotions I felt then to give my characters
depth and make their plight realistic. A little of me is in
my heroine Mary Beth. The story is set in my hometown of Wilmington,
Delaware.
To
read more about Delaware, go to www.delawareonline.com.
A whole chapter of my book is set at the Greek Festival, which
is held every June in Wilmington. Read about the Greek Festival
on the Delaware site or do a Google search: Greek Festival Wilmington
Delaware. Check out www.emerils.com
for recipes of the dishes (lamb stew, crab cakes, veal saltimbocca)
Mary Beth prepares in the book.
I've
gotten much positive feedback on A Catered Affair (read
a review on www.avalonbooks.com),
but the most exciting recognition so far came when I was named
an up and coming author in one of Affaire de Coeur
magazine's readers' poll. Unfortunately they misspelled my last
name.
I
write the books I want to read. The settings (a ranch in Wyoming,
for instance) might not be places I know, but the emotions I
write about are real ones that we all share.
I
took early retirement from my management job at a telecommunications
company and now work for an insurance company. I write every
lunch hour at my desk. I write whenever I find time, even if
it's just fifteen minutes. I once wrote a whole chapter in longhand
while at my son's track meet. Don't worry, I didn't miss his
races.
In
addition to my book, The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper
published a travel article I wrote (see it on this site). I've
written numerous opinion letters that were published in local
papers and national magazines.
I
live in Delaware with my husband, son and a fat, black cat named
Killer
Thank
you for visiting my website and please visit again for news
of more sales.