“Sometimes i thank god for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs,
That just because he may not answer doesn't mean he don't care, Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers”
- Garth Brooks

Inspired by the untimely loss of my biological father while still a toddler, it was the experience of loss coupled with inadequate faculties to understand death that later in life, I penned That Place to assist families and individuals coping with grief.

I have always felt if you ignore your own inner voice that the universe will put reminders out there to help right your direction. Several years ago the universe bombarded me with a few helpful hints, starting with an article in my high school newsletter.

It was the fall of 2002, and the brief article highlighted a fellow alumna Laura Duksta who’d published an amazing children’s book, “I Love You More”. I filed the newsletter into a stack of papers and thought, when I really know what to ask I’ll call her.

After a few months of trying to arrive at a plan for solid conversation I came up empty handed. I picked up the telephone and called Laura anyway. I mentioned the article in the newsletter and my desire to get my stories out there to touch, comfort, and humor people. That was all it took. I put it out there and Laura helped me navigate the maze of this “new-to-me” industry to figure out the elements necessary to make my goals happen. She spent countless hours talking with me about her experiences in publishing, winning arrangements, contacts and regrets. Networking from those early conversations brought a very personal and equally endearing character to life in That Place.

Beginning with a daring sabbatical from my high-tech career following the birth of my first daughter, I trekked down the path less traveled pursuing my goals as a novelist and children’s book author. At the urging of a co-worker I dared to step outside my comfort zone, and enrolled in a Landmark seminar that changed my future, ultimately enabling myself to create possibilities for my goals and dreams. It took a series of career altering events and faith in my message to eventually realize these goals, and shortly after the birth of my second daughter came commercial success with “That Place”.

I was born and raised in a quiet suburb south of Boston, Massachusetts, and ventured west to a place where lazy enunciation and words like “y’all” make you feel at home. It was in Lafayette, Indiana that I earned my undergraduate degree from Purdue University. Early career frustrations led me to pursue a postgraduate degree, which I undertook at Emerson College in Boston; however, it was the culmination of these skills and experiences that eventually would become an amazing foundation for my future endeavors as an author.

I am eager to bring my other books and characters to life, and hope you enjoy the excerpts from those stories.

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