About Me
I’m the author of seven novels and four poetry collections. Writing is part of my insatiable quest to learn how people grow in love and nurture lasting relationships in family and community.
Find my poetry in print and online, in Atlanta Review, Boulevard, Eclectica, and Prairie Schooner, and other magazines, as well as in several anthologies. Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California and Nur Melange, A Ghazal Anthology. I live in the glorious East Bay of San Francisco with my architect husband and furry muse. I’m a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and Alliance of Independent Authors,
Why I Became a Writer
Arts made a frequent appearance in my household as I grew up on the coast of Southern California. My rocket scientist father was also a painter, and my mother was a choral singer. I tried their arts, but needed to go my own way, and thanks to frequent library and bookstore trips with my mother, at age ten, I found my lane and wrote my first novel. It was a mystery copycat of my adored fictional heroine, Nancy Drew.
Much later, an unforgettable art history tour of northern Italy inspired me to create the Timegathering Series. It begins with The Renaissance Club and now includes Jane Austen, Time Traveler. A story that started as a tribute to my late brother, The Invisibles, became amn investigation of family, sisters\hood, and life after death.
Magic always hovers in my stories, thanks to a childhood passion for fairytales. L. Frank Baum’s Oz books and the rainbow fairytale books started the ball rolling. I still have my old set of Oz books. I used to trace the gorgeous John R. Neill illustrations. 
I have a bent toward things mystical, which also began at an early age, when I read The Tao de Ching and Many Mansions, a story of reincarnation.
My Writing Muse
This is Terry Dacus (officially “Elfinsilk’s Theresa d’Avila”). She gives me inspiration and a hobby, by curling up next to me as I write and by requiring daily walking. Doesn’t every writer need a spirit animal? Or a plant, a presence to partner your creative musings.
Memberships
Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association
Alliance of Independent Authors
Interviews, Appearances & Readings
Interview with Author Shail Rajan. Watch HERE.
Interview on author Amanda Read’s World to Write podcast here.
Women’s Fiction Writers Association podcast – Debut authors 2018
