Look and Listen

Biography

I'm in the second half of my lifetime and am enjoying my family, friends, and feline beauties. Other than writing, which is at the top of my list of favorites, I love to read, travel, sing, paint, walk through gardens, watch movies ... in that order. My two sons live near me in the Phoenix area with their wives (no grandchildren at home) and my daughter and her family live in San Diego - a hop, skip, and a jump from my home (5 hours?). Involvement with the Wizards of Words Writers Organization and presenting an annual conference takes up a good part of my time - the 2008 conference is in Scottsdale, Arizona this year. Also, this year I started up an editing service AND a publishing company. All my life I've been connected to the creative arts in one form or another, and of late I've begun to narrow it down to writing and anything to do with writing, only. A good move on my part, for I tend to stretch myself too thin at times. One of my favorite things to do is to sip champagne at the seaside and people-watch, whether it's in this country or another. Being close to bodies of water is soothing to me - rivers, lakes, creeks, streams, oceans. In the case of Queen Creek where I live, poolside will have to do, though.

Inspiration

Although I've been drawn to writing and doing so since I was a young child, Rachel Ballon, a teacher at UCLA in the '80s, inspired me to begin to take writing seriously. I had enrolled in a television & film screenwriting program and Rachel was one of the instructors in that designation. Her behavior towards me and encouragement gave me the confidence and belief that I could actually write, that it wasn't a waste of time. She was the first to do that for me. Writers who have inspired me are: Nora Roberts, Catherine Cookson, Dean Koontz, Jack Whyte, Fyodor Dostoyefsky, Phillipa Gregory and many more. Too many to mention. Traveling has inspired me to write. I feel and visualize stories in the locations where I holiday. England inspired my first novel, Paris the second, and so forth. I love writing about romantic adventure and incorporating authentic settings and the real people I meet as well as the imaginary characters into the stories.