Bio

My older brother introduced me to science fiction when I was nine, shortly after the first lunar landing, which, doing the math, means I was born long before most of you.* Luckily, I was a precocious child, so when he threw me into the deep end with 2001: A Space Odyssey, what could have ended very badly turned into a life-altering experience. I didn't immediately give up my treasured Black Stallion or Jack London books, but in a couple of years I went from embracing heartwarming stories about boys and their dogs to reading "A Boy and His Dog."

I was a hard science kind of gal in my teens. None of that fantasy stuff for me. At least not until the day a friend placed a copy of The Lord of the Rings in my hands.

Soon, I realized I, too, could create stories. My college didn't offer a literary MFA, but I was able to cop a creative thesis: a collection of short stories. It certainly helped when Marion Zimmer Bradley chose one of the stories for her fifth Sword & Sorceress anthology. It was a humorous take on shape shifters and dragon hunters and grabbed the coveted tail spot Marion reserved in the "leave 'em laughing" tradition.

Marion placed another fantasy story in anthologies that sold across Europe. And she published a third in her pro Fantasy Magazine. That story won a reader's award, plus its sale meant I could join SFWA. Then, tragically, the venerable Ms. Bradley passed away. I believe I hold the distinction of being the last person she ever rejected. In fact, I have a letter dated the day before she died. I picture her struggling out of her coma with single-minded determination, vowing to reject my work if it was the last thing she ever did. Sadly, it was.

Somehow, organizers of SF cons found me and invited me as a guest panelist. I made the Texas circuit for a handful of years, sitting elbow-to-elbow at signing tables with some of the greats. Lines stretched forever to either side of me, with only the occasional kind attendee wandering my way, asking for a signature scribbled in the margin of their program.

Soon, real life caught up, leaving little time for pursuing The Dream. Oh, I dabbled: the high- and historical-fantasy novels, the odd piece of fanfic, even a script and a comic book series -- some gained industry attention only to have publishers fold shortly after expressing interest. I started to feel like the proverbial "kiss of death."

I didn't stray far from the writing process, though, accepting writing and editing positions for a series of high-tech firms to the tune of some 23 years. Recently, I picked up the creative writing gauntlet again. I've edited a wonderful multi-author anthology, EXTINCT DOESN'T MEAN FOREVER, and authored a women's historical novel with romantic elements, SPOIL OF WAR, set in Arthurian times, as well as the medical mystery/ecothriller SECTOR C. You can also follow my Vet Tech Tales series every Friday on my other blog, Confessions of an Animal Junkie.  

*Disclaimer: That IS me in the picture (I'm the one on the right), but it is a younger me, although that picture isn't as old as the one on my driver's license...

Covers for the books and mags in which my short stories (under my real name) appear: