About Me

Raised in the Pacific Northwest, I lived in the same home for twenty-one years. My parents met on a blind date, purchased a small house and remodeled the main floor while we lived in the basement. When we moved into the “new” house, a bath in a tub instead of the basement sink was heavenly.

A paper route started my entry into the world of “I need to make some money.” I’ve clerked at Meier & Frank, did office work for a freight line company, and learned to drive a stick shift delivering floral arrangements on the hills of a northern California town. That job didn’t last long. My least favorite job was driving a sugar beet truck in Montana. In the driver’s seat of a two-ton dump truck and hauling ten-tons of sugar beets didn’t stress me out as much as when I filled the gas tank. The old pump didn’t have an automatic shut-off, so the gas sprayed my favorite hand-knit sweater and burned my arm.

I’ve attended eight colleges and earned a Master’s Degree from Western Oregon. It’s been a privilege to teach art in three high schools, retiring in 2013. As my parent’s blind date turned into marriage, my husband and I also met on a blind date. Married over 50 years to my favorite bag-piper, we’ve moved twenty-four times, lived in six states, explored twenty-two states and five countries, but Oregon will always be home.

Random Thoughts:

* I’ve eaten herring eggs dipped in seal oil, mussels, and barnacles
* I met Phil and Don Everly, Bob Barker and George Liberace
* I visited with Little Richard following a concert
* A Roman Catholic priest asked me to marry him (did you take a breath after that one?)

Why I write:

Breast cancer shortened my teaching career, so prayers for “what-next” began in earnest. Stories live inside my head awake, or asleep. My first novel, Without A Doubt grew from a dream. However, like any story with a beginning and an end, I needed substance in between. That substance had to be based on God’s word. I had no desire to write novels without using God’s principles as the foundation. I pray my stories will confront and challenge us to move forward in an ever-changing world with a never-changing God. Using the truths of His word, the Holy Bible, I pray my readers will see a bit of themselves in the characters and allow His truths to mold us into truth-telling, faith-walking people.

Story Ideas:

I was asked, “Where do your stories come from? How do you think up this stuff?” Without a Doubt is based on a dream. I awoke in Maggie’s shoes, standing on a balcony, overlooking dear friends dancing in a courtyard below. Next to me stood a handsome man who hoped I would be his bride. Yet, deep inside, there was an ominous feeling that he wished me harm. Maggie found herself striving to search for truth. I also knew I was in Scotland, the ancestral home of my grandfather who emigrated from Dundee to Canada in 1901. Driving Scotland’s roads in 2002, rubbing Highland cattle horns, and breathing in the richness of heather-covered hills, I gained a deep appreciation of the people and their extraordinary land.

Eden Lake sprouted before Without A Doubt ended with Max returning to his home near the base of Mt. Hood. A trip to Sandy Historic Museum provided a wealth of information on the area and the town’s early settlers. Max’s story grows out of our propensity to judge using superficial information, rather than basing our decisions on solid facts.

Awards, Honors, and Degrees:

Oregon State Salon of Photography: 2003

Cascade Contest: Unpublished Devotion: 2018

Mineral County Hospital Art Collection, Superior, Montana

Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers: 1992, 2000, 2004

Bachelor of Arts: University of Saint Francis Ft. Wayne, Indiana – 1972

Master of Science in Education: Western Oregon State College Monmouth – 1991

Junior High/High School Teacher: 1987 – 2013

Member of Oregon Christian Writers since 2013 and Secretary – 2017-2020