I was born in Lugoff, South Carolina and lived in small towns in South and North Carolina throughout my childhood, collecting images and stories that I stored away in my adolescent brain. After graduating with an English degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I put aside my dreams of becoming the next Ayn Rand or John Irving and set out to make my fortune in technology (it was the ‘80’s). My career took me across the world and through the doors of many Fortune 500 companies. I lived in Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and London (to name a few) and enjoyed (?) the lifestyle of a corporate executive. During that time, my writing career was limited to technical documentation, business proposals, press releases, and performance reviews (though I produced reams of these).
After seventeen years of 80-hour work-weeks, spending more time on airplanes and hotels than I did at home, I decided to make a change. I refreshed my writing skills at various workshops and conferences, quit my job, moved cross-country, became extremely active in the non-profit volunteer arena, and started writing. Finally, after years of trying to ignore the voices in my head, I sequestered myself in the North Carolina Mountains to write my first novel. One year—and lots of printer ink—later, Sorrows Multiplied was born. Though generally lighthearted—and sometimes lightheaded—I prefer to write about issues that impact women, often pulling characters, settings and situations from my Southern roots. Prior to Sorrows Multiplied, I had never submitted any of my fiction for publication. My second as-yet-untitled manuscript is in the works, and ideas for a third are churning away in my still sometimes-adolescent brain.
While working through this whole fiction/novel development process, I took on a number of non-fiction writing assignments, resulting in the creation of a freelance copywriting business (though I use that term loosely). I also work part-time in the marketing department of the local school system, a flexible gig if there ever was one. I spend just enough time in these ventures to allow me to continue to pursue my passion for writing novels. Now that I’ve got the process down, I’m also looking for a full-time position in the non-profit sector (no more revenue-based world for me!).
If you want to hear a little more about me personally, keep reading.
I’m a 40-year-old woman who has never been married—lots of great material there for a future novel. I love to travel and have been to four of the seven continents so far. I exercise enough to stay in shape, cook enough to stay alive, and volunteer enough to feel good about my contribution to the world.
