How did I get here?

I spent my childhood wandering through the woods behind our house, pretending to be an Indian. Later, when I fully discovered horses, it prompted my mother the history teacher to put anything and everything about the High Plains tribes into my hands. This infatuation lasted for over a decade.

At some point, I got away from Indians. My mother blames boys. I discovered Victorian novels and didn't look back - not for almost two decades. I got a Bachelor's of Arts in English from Truman State University and a Master's of Arts in English from The Ohio State University.

And through it all, I knew I wanted to write novels. I just had no idea how to do it.

It took a caffeine-fueled car trip with my 92-year-old grandmother and two-year-old son in July of 2007 to awaken my Muse. That story would become my first book as I figured out how, exactly, one writes a novel.

Let's just say the learning curve was steep.

One character led to another, and before long, I found my characters out in South Dakota, among the Lakota Sioux tribe. Modern-day cowboys, who are the Indians - without planning it this way, I find myself writing about the people and places that held my imagination throughout my childhood.

In May, 2009, I was signed by Laurie McLean of Larsen Pomada Literary Agents. We are actively seeking publication for my new westerns.

I live in Illinois with my husband, son, Jake the Three-Legged Wonder Wiener dog, and Gater the Four-Legged Mutt. I am a writer and editor at Mark Twain Media, Inc., an educational publishing company. I am a member of Romance Writers of America, the Chicago-North RWA, Women Writing the West, and the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance. When not chasing my son around or tweaking my books, I attempt to read, knit, and occasionally complete a home improvement project in my historical 1895 Queen Anne house.