Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m retired from the field of commercial credit management. I love music, travel, and our little rescue pups. I’m a mother and grandmother who loves watercolor art and writing. I’ve written four books and participated in two anthologies.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My last book is “Cosmo is Adopted” about our little blind dog and his progression from a pound to a rescue and finally to our family. I wrote the book to help our newly adopted grandchildren. They fell in love with Cosmo’s journey and begged me to share it with other children. I worked with an award-winning child therapist to write discussion questions for the book to help develop “feelings” vocabularies. The book is appropriate for ages 6-9.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m seventy-one years young and have had my fill of traditional desks as my workspace. I write sitting in a large leather recliner with a pup beside me or the mysterious cat who shows up twice a day to visit our little blind dog on my lap. I listen to music as I write to filter out the world around me. It’s vitally important because I suffered a serious traumatic brain injury when a truck came across the center line and hit my car head-on. As a result, I talked backward for years. Recently, working on the 3rd book in my Elle Burton series, I realized I had typed an entire paragraph with every word spelled backward. I’ve worked long hours with a computer game to reprogram my brain around the damaged part, but when I push too hard, strange things happen.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I grew up at a time when the must-reads were books like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. I loved Narnia and To Kill a Mockingbird. The Nancy Drew series was a must-read. I couldn’t wait to read all the books in the Little House on the Prairie series and cried when I read Charlotte’s Web. I was one of the lucky ones…the library was only a block away from our house and I spent most of my free time there growing up, reading and re-reading my favorites.
What are you working on now?
I’m still writing the Elle Burton books. My childhood was seriously affected by abuse. I was threatened not to tell anyone or my mother would be killed. That’s a threat a seven-year-old girl takes very seriously. I decided to write this series about real-world problems faced by children, but with a twist. I believed in Guardian Angels and I decided to create a bit of a twist on the old Angels & Demons theme. I also worked with an award-winning child counselor to prepare discussion questions to go with the first book in the series and that’s available for free on my website (no signup required.) My prayer is that the books will inspire kids to kindness and empower them to find help if in trouble. It is a labor of love and the responses I’ve received from mothers who read the book or listened to it on Audible with their daughters has been humbling. It is making a huge impact on those who read it together. It’s a new concept, but perhaps if someone had written this book back in the 50’s, I’d have had that critical conversation with my mom.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I had a bad fall in London just as the first book was published and I wasn’t able to do much to promote it until nearly three years later when I finally had surgery to repair my leg. So far, I’ve been most successful in promotion on Facebook through author groups and my author page.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Absolutely. I read one book that had an incredibly entertaining storyline but the writing was horrible. Don’t depend on friends to do your editing. A well-edited book is critical to your success. A book depends on accuracy for success.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do better today than you did yesterday. I’ve learned in life that to compete with others doesn’t force me to improve at the level I’m capable of achieving. When I compete with myself, I grow daily.
What are you reading now?
I hate to admit it, but I have about 50 books sitting here waiting to be read. I always preferred mystery and fantasy, but when I was a kid I read everything I could find on Abraham Lincoln. I just finished reading Dan Abrams’ book “Lincoln’s Last Trial.” It was fascinating and the research included an actual transcript of the trial. (One of the first ever done in a courtroom. Plus, I found out that during the trial, Lincoln went to his local drugstore and purchased a Bed Bug Remedy (In Sept, 1859…they have the records from the drug store)
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working on the final edit of the third book in the Elle Burton series and the fourth keeps filling my head…I need to get it out of there!
What is your favorite book of all time?
That would definitely be “To Kill a Mockingbird.” While I learned that having a kind heart is one of life’s greatest accomplishments from my grandfather, I learned that life can be frightening, unfair, and extremely complicated from this book. Most important, I learned you have to stand up and fight for what you believe in.
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