Paperback Writer

As the above heading would suggest, this section is all about me. So who am I?

If you subscribe to birth order theory, I am the middle child, and a damn good one at that. In retail circles, I am known as the most perfect jeans girl in the world (and boy, am I proud!) for my uncanny precision folding technique (I could teach a master class…no one would attend, but that’s all right, isn’t it?). In my social circle, I am known as the television and movie addict. I love pop culture of all kinds, but especially love all things Joss Whedon, Harry Potter and Battlestar Galactica (the new one…not the old one, although it is always good for a laugh.).

But mostly, I’m a writer. I started in grade school and haven’t stopped since. As a result, I tried to be an English major when I got to college but, as it turned out, it didn’t agree with me so I took a slightly different route and ended up with a B.A. in communications with a concentration in mass media and creative writing (translation: I fold jeans for a living.).

I used to teach English. I loved it but left in order to focus on my writing. My students were great though. The social studies teacher would tell them of my endeavour and they would come to my classroom begging for details. Mostly they wanted to know if there were swear words, sword fights and sex scenes (yes, yes and yes), but were also curious about the writing and publishing process. I would then bring in my rejection slips (and there were a lot from which to choose) and once allowed a group to critique the query letter I sent out. One student read the letter and said, “You actually sent this out?” I have since retired that particular letter.

At this time, I have no true writing credits to my name. My most notable achievement came my senior year in high school when I submitted a short story to the Guidepost Young Writers’ Competition. The goal was to write a story about the role of God in your life. I wrote a story about an ill-fated attempt to ask a boy to the prom. It was good enough for an honorable mention, an electric typewriter (because that won’t date me at all!) and a one year subscription to the magazine that has yet to run out.

My goals are to write novels and screenplays and cookbooks as soon as I learn to cook. I have several projects (none of which is a cookbook…I was just joking about that) but the one that seems to hold my attention the most is my fantasy series that has been in my life one way or another since I was a sophomore in high school. One of these days, I’ll get it right.