Look and Listen

Biography

A native Minnesotan, I set my first novel in my home state, which is actually another character in the book. After graduating with a BS in Journalism from Iowa State University, I spent several years in radio broadcasting, bouncing around the Midwest. Known as Bobbi Burton, my voice was probably too whiskey and smoke-cured for the hog reports of small-time radio. When I realized I wasn't going to find fame and fortune as a radio personality, I returned to my writing roots, moving into the realm of corporate communications where I spent nearly 15 years. Writing a novel is a complete change of pace, but a story inspired by real-life events convinced me to write this first book. I also had the support of friends and family who kept telling me this was the story of a life-time that deserved to be told. The universal themes of familial bonds and love, the existence of evil in ordinary lives, its effects, and how innocent people choose to confront it are the core elements that drive and define me. I'm currently being published across the Internet with articles that relate to themes of the book, while sketching out my next novel.

Inspiration

Before I took the plunge into writing a novel, I had read several of Jane Smiley's works. She had also taught creative writing at my alma mater, Iowa State University, and one of her books, "Moo" was clearly set on the campus. Besides brilliant and beautiful prose, what struck me was the number of themes within a story. "A Thousand Acres" wasn't just concerned with hog farming in Iowa, but the devastation such practices can unleash on the environment (in cancer and infertility) and the possible solution of organic farming. As I wrote "Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace" I kept returning to "A Thousand Acres" for that writer's spark. Two other authors who have inspired me have written non-fiction books that made the reader feel as though they were taking part in history as it was told. Those two works are "Seabiscuit" by Laura Hillenbrand and "Shadow Divers" by Robert Kurson. Both offered gorgeous writing in telling true stories.