Look and Listen

Biography

I'm old enough to have had many jobs and a few careers I never envisioned. Two of the unexpected included Air Force officer during Viet Nam and eleventy dozen secretarial positions including one with the Van Cliburn Foundation. I've lived in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, Connecticut, Minnesota, Labrador, the San Fernando Valley in California, and various cities in Texas, and traveled through almost every other state in the continental US. In 1991 I joined Mom in her crystal matching service (Milbra's Crystal). We traveled all over, looking for glass to buy, setting up at glass shows and conventions, doing seminars, and at last coming to the venture of publishing. If we had known what we were getting into, we would not have had the courage to start. Ignorance truly can be bliss. Now we are nationally known for our reference books on the largest of the great glass houses of the past, the Fostoria Glass Company (1887-1986) of Moundsville, West Virginia. Currently, Mom and I are in the throes of another venture which is fast becoming an adventure. That of building a national glass museum in North Texas that will celebrate America's oldest industry (Jamestown, 1608). In 2005 I went to the local subcourthouse to register Webeus (we be us 'cause we can't be anybody else) House, and on April 28th, I held my first book child, Ah-mah. I will always be proud of the Fostoria books, but Ah-mah is mine alone. My beauty, my words, my flaws--all mine. I believed what was said to me, that is, "Write what you know." Well, I am a practicing reflexologist and I know that reflexology was practiced in Egypt circa 2500 B.C.E. So I went back to earliest, barely known civilization and found Ah-mah, the inventor of reflexology who just happens to have a friend who lives in Atlantis. The next year I gathered poems I had written over thirty years or so and produced Foolish Wisdom, the closest to a biography I will probably ever get. In 2007 I completed The White Crown, the story of Ah-mah's grandson, the Scorpion King and first to wear the white crown of southern Egypt. The Power of Dreaming came in late 2008 and requires just a little background. Dolphins play an important role in each book. I believe that dolphins create a holographic history, one that can be relived by both dolphins and humans if they are lucky enough to be included in dolphin dreaming. In The Power of Dreaming, I explore the possibility that humans create their own holographic dreaming. The last book in the series, HeartMind, must tie the first three together while standing on its own. The task still feels a bit daunting, so I'm allowing my process to work before I attempt to put too many words on a page. In the meantime, I'm fascinated with the idea that I can create (as can any human being) a bridge across my depths, linking my male and female tendencies. And I can also destroy that bridge. I'm hoping for a small book similar to Foolish Wisdom sometime this year.

Inspiration

I am inspired by looking up, by nature, by natural sounds, by well-composed, well orchestrated symphonic works. Mom inspires me as do Ann, Naomi, Neena, Connie, Mary Jane, Marsha, Melba, Sharon, Maya Angelou, Ursala K. LeGuinn, Anya Seton, and so many others. Stephen surprises me--and inspiration in itself. Hot showers set me in flight as do rainy days (as long as there aren't too many of them in a row). I am inspired by questions, especially the one word, "Why?" In the Power of Dreaming, I confess that Suti, one of my favorite characters, is the Keeper of Questions. I'd like to think I am also. Good movies inspire me. Reading something I don't remember writing because I reached my 'zone' inspires me. Road trips inspire me. In fact, I guess you could say there's very little in Life that doesn't inspire me. Ideas that bubble up from who knows where, conversations between characters that take unexpected direction, characters that seem to take over the writing, and books that have a mind of their own--well, I'd say that's pretty close to heaven for a writer.