Look and Listen

Biography

Having Breast cancer in 2001 jumped started my new career because I wanted to fullfill my life-long dream of writing stories to entertain readers. My first publication was a 22 page booklet with photos I took, "Breast Cancer Survivor--Year One" published by Elan Press. The next series of publications came through non-fiction articles for Sun Life magazine that allowed my curiousity full reign through reseach. One of them, "Fly With the Wind" won an honorable mention in the 73rd Writer's Digest feature article contest in 2004. Then I hit the jack-pot and got a fiction short story, "The New Hire" published via a contest entry in "The Unknown Otherworlds Sci-Fi 2003 Anthology." The latest is "The Saga of Thundercloud and Dancing Star" as a co-author. To come is "The Stubborn Fairy" from Allison Books in 2009, but waste not is my motto as I have more works going; a juvenile science fiction novel, a memior with an Afghani refugee, and a short mystery written with my grandson. Writing allows me to have dirty dishes lurking on the kitchen counter and dust bunnies creeping out from furniture because the computer doesn't care! Of course when I take a break and look around, I do clean as fast as I can because characters demand I tell their stories and my head likes the relief.

Inspiration

Family life problems that I had no control over built-up emotions that needed a release valve. I started with notes in small notebooks and keep travel-logs, but needed more. Taking a creative writing course at Glendale Community College gave me courage to try and write real stoies and use those emotions. The teacher of this course inspired me to continue and to never give up. That courage allowed me to sign-up for several correspondence courses which improved my grammer skills and story organization, but if I were to credit the most influencial people in my life, it would be every writer, published or not, that encouraged me, read my work and helped me see how to improve it.