“…it is above all by imagination that we receive perception, compassion & hope.” 

 Ursula LeGuin      

Ursula Le Guin was one of the honorary commencement speakers  at my college graduation. I walked away with my Liberal Arts Degree & a huge amount of inspiration. At that early point in my life I had no idea I would aspire to be an author and begin to seriously pursue a full-length novel and publication.  

Semi-retirement has given me a wonderful gift…time to write.  Several years ago, a vivid dream inspired me to begin. I clearly saw a young women, lying wounded in a cave under the protection of a wolf and a bear. That intrigued me enough to sit down at my computer and start typing. Since that tentative beginning, these spirits have sat resolutely on my shoulder to tell me their story. They have not been shy. (Cave of Whispers, due 2023).

While my story idea was truly inspired, my first attempts at writing were awful. After some brutally honest feedback at a writers conference, I got serious, took a writing class, began reading current fantasy authors non-stop and continued with a renewed commitment to my writers group. My story and my writing skills have improved dramatically because of my efforts to listen to criticism, rewrite, edit, throw-out and submit for more feedback. I literally tossed my first 40K words. Difficult, but necessary.

I was thrilled to have my first published short story appear in a benefit anthology, Open Your Mouth, which was released May, 2022. All proceeds will go to the National Women’s Law Center. My piece tells a story of a young woman looking to break away from a system where reproductive choices are controlled by corporations. A timely subject supporting an important cause. Available at Bookshop.org and all other major distributors.

When I’m not working or writing, my spouse Diane and I are out hiking at Point Reyes National Seashore or in one of the many beautiful regional parks in our area. I also volunteer at our local library, where I use my prior experience as a used/rare book buyer for a locally owned bookstore to help them sort donations. What a thrill to go through all the piles of donated books looking for treasures! They are sold in our Friends of the Library bookstore to raise funds for special programs & the really valuable volumes get listed on eBay.

Another passion is collecting old cookbooks from the 50’s, 60’s & early 70’s…not the glossy, fancy ones, but the self-published, spiral-bound ones put out by the local church ladies, PTA and home economics teachers. I plan to resurrect a selection these nostalgic, comfort food recipes from our past into a series of cookbooks.

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