I was born in Provo, Utah. 

I miss the simplicity of life and the creative fun we had as children.

My fondest memory is reading the Nancy Drew mysteries – my favorite. A few other favorites were Harry (a story about a dog), and Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales like the Ugly Duckling, The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina – I loved Thumbelina. I also enjoyed reading the Walt Disney Stories as well. We had a series of books titled Best in Children’s Books and though I don’t remember all the stories, I fondly remember the books themselves.

My first “story” was written in the basement of my home, sitting in a gold rocking chair. I had just finished reading one of the Nancy Drew Mysteries stories and wanted to write one of my own. I grabbed a pencil and a yellow lined notepad and started writing my story. 

I love creating characters that capture the personalities, experiences, and personas of my grandchildren. I also love writing with a goal to help children who struggle with their self-confidence, not-fitting in, and experience being bullied, as examples, find a way to believe in themselves and know they are important. Writing is also my way of embarking on fantastical adventures that would never happen in real life, in places that don’t exist, creating fictional characters I dreamed of having as friends when I was a young girl.

My most valuable learning experiences have come from sharing time with my family. The fun-loving times, the interpersonal struggles, and the love we share has taught me more than anything I could have learned in school. 

Thoughtful.

My eldest grandson. 

Darby and the Dollberry Dare was inspired by a visit to Dolberry Hollow (or Holler as they say) near Scottsboro, Alabama. My husband relayed the story he had heard from the residents in the area about robbers that used a cave in the Holler to hide their stolen loot.

After hearing the story about the robbers and the cave, I started writing a non-fiction story based on the cave and the robbers. As I started making notes and creating the characters and the setting; it morphed into a children’s story. The only element that remained was that of the cave. From there, The Adventures of Darby series was born. 

I observe what happens in my family and what I see other children do, how they act, what their struggles and challenges are, and what I see in their acts of kindness. My stories often start with the notes I have taken or the memories of what I have seen, and shortly thereafter, I have the basis and premise for my story. 

I often know how I would like my story to end and what I would like the moral of the story to be; however, though I have experienced my story ending as I planned it, in a few cases I have been surprised how the story ends. 

That’s a question with a complicated answer as I believe there is not just one author that could be categorized as best, but many. There have been children’s writers in our history and in present day that have penned wonderful children’s stories. However, if I had to name one, I believe I would name Hans Christian Andersen. He wrote delightful fairy tales that I loved to read as a child. The famous Walt Disney animated movies such as The Little Mermaid, and Frozen, (based loosely on The Snow Queen) have stemmed from Andersen’s fairy tales. He also wrote The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, and the Princess and the Pea. We are blessed to have brilliant authors from around the world share their wonderful writings and delightful stories with all of us. 

I very much enjoy writing and sharing my stories. I am grateful for those who have purchased my books and for those who have taken time to write reviews and share my social media posts. I am encouraged by the feedback and the comments about my stories. Thank you.

Never give up. Continue dreaming. For every story written there is a reader looking for a story just like the one you are writing. 

I am currently working on the fourth and fifth stories in The Adventures of Darby series. One is a story about Santa Nicholas Day (Christmas), and one is the story about Darby’s lost l’agon, K’Orac, and the wood gnomes. I am also (still) working on the sequel to The Ghost of Morgan Gulch, which I have titled Shadows on the Gulch. 

The AllAuthor team has been amazing to work with. I have enjoyed my time being part of the AllAuthor purpose and goals. They have not disappointed in how they engage, what they provide in their services, and their willingness to support authors in marketing their books.

My most cherished childhood memory is our family vacation to Disneyland when I was quite young. I was enthralled with seeing all the characters from the Disney stories I had read and the movies I had watched. It was as if the characters had jumped right off the storybook pages and came to life. I felt like I was a part of the stories from the Wonderful World of Walt Disney.

I had a collection of The Nancy Drew Mysteries written by Carolyn Keene, of which I read religiously and often. I had a great desire to be just like her in my writing and in my storytelling. I loved the mystery in her stories and how Nancy always solved the mystery. I also wanted to share my stories with others who loved to read, just as Carolyn had.

I love being able to write my stories for young children and pre-teens in hopes that I can encourage them to have dreams, to believe that they can do anything they desire in life by having confidence in themselves, and to believe they can overcome the obstacles they encounter throughout their life.

My life growing up in the real world didn’t often produce happy memories. I wasn’t popular, I often felt bullied, and I never felt that I really fit in with the crowds. I chose to write middle-grade fiction in hopes that I could help youth to feel that each of them is important and that they have something good to contribute to the world. The characters’ struggles in some of my stories reflect my own struggles. I write to these struggles because I know them well and I desire that those who read my stories may feel a kinship to the characters. I want them to know they are not alone in the challenges they may face. I hope that the positive outcomes in my stories help the readers know they can achieve those same positive results and have good things to look forward to.

Though there is so much good that came from the courses, I’d like to specifically speak to how the instructors at the Institute taught me how to build better structure to my storyline and create stronger characters. I learned how to develop and resolve conflict, and even learned how to be more accepting of critical feedback, while at the same time gaining confidence in my writing. My middle-grade novel “The Ghost of Morgan Gulch” stemmed from one of the courses. The guidance from my instructors, their feedback and encouragement, brought me to a point that I felt I could continue developing this story, and others, and fulfill my dream of publishing my story.

I have been a member for 12 years. I joined in 2008.

Pikes Peak Writers Group is a writing group founded in 1993 by Jimmie Butler. The group hosts conferences, events, contests and workshops as well as provides a forum for local authors of the Rocky Mountain region to band together in support of each other’s creative works.

The first big challenge was finding a publisher. Once my book was accepted by my publisher, the second biggest challenge in the publishing process was getting through the editing stage. I found myself second guessing everything about my book in my zeal to get it ‘perfect’. I was constantly going back and forth and forth and back, redoing and repeating edits multiple times. I finally had to say enough is enough, let’s call it good, get it off to the printer. My third and present challenge, though it has mostly been in the post-publishing phase, is marketing and promoting my book. From the outside, this part of getting a book published and sold seems easy. On the inside, I find this has been and continues to be the greatest challenge of all. I am, however, ready to do it all over and over again.

I was elated and somewhat in disbelief. I had to reread the announcement several times before it sunk in that it was my name and short story in the announcement that cited the winners of the contest. The Writers’ Journal contest was the first major contest I had entered. I wrote the story over a weekend and submitted it, believing that it had no chance of being selected, but what did I have to lose? Did I say I was elated?

My eldest grandson, Jayden. One of my hobbies is collecting gemstones. Jayden loved going with us to dig for local gemstones, rocks, and treasures in the foothills near our home in Colorado. He also loved the family property, the setting of the story, which is also in the mountains of Colorado. He was so excited to explore and find treasures as we hiked all over the 200-acre parcel. At the time I started writing ‘The Ghost of Morgan Gulch’, Jayden was younger than Kyle is in the story. As the story developed, Jayden aged and grew up, giving me more inspiration in the building of Kyle’s character.

The beauty of the mountains and foothills of Colorado, as well as my personal struggles while growing up. Many of my stories, mostly unpublished and in process, have a mountain or western setting. This is where I am most comfortable and have many experiences and feelings to draw from—both good and bad.

Yes, my two eldest grandchildren. Jayden and Shylah have read the book more than once. They have enjoyed reading about how their grandmother has taken their personalities and woven them into a story. As mentioned in an earlier question, Jayden is Kyle in the story, and Shylah is his younger sister, Kimmie. My two youngest grandsons are too young to read, so I am looking forward to the time when they share in the excitement of the family story.

I’m a lot country and a little bit rock ‘n roll. I grew up listening to rock ‘n roll and learned to love country in my later years. However, I enjoy playing classical music at home on my grand piano.

I am currently working on the sequel to ‘The Ghost of Morgan Gulch’. I have titled it ‘Shadows on the Gulch’. I am also working on a children’s series about a young boy and his magical mouse.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with and being a part of AllAuthor. It has been positive, uplifting, and it has been great to see what other authors are working on and what they have published. In addition to enjoying the communications and the interaction, I feel a sense of support and sharing with the other authors and the AllAuthor team.