“…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.  

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 woman, 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 (2026) is that story.

While my story idea was truly inspired, my first attempts at writing were awful. After some brutally honest feedback at a writer’s 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.

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’re 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. My first cookbook of holiday cookie recipes is available for free to my subscribers.

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