As far back as I can remember, my fascination with the Civil War has led me to write historical fiction. Because I was raised in Springfield, Illinois, I saw Lincoln plays, attended Lincoln festivals, and watched an endless string of Lincoln commercials on local television shows. I saw all the Lincoln sites; his various homes, his memorial and of course, New Salem, many times. You might say I was marinating in Civil War culture. Later in life I joined the Marine Corps as my father did before me and my son did after me. After the Corps, I worked as a feature reporter for the Daily News in Fort Walton Beach, in Florida. I did free-lance writing for magazines and eventually taught Middle and High School English, Journalism and History. Teaching in alternative schools has been both challenging and rewarding. Above all else it taught me patience.

I have no rigid writing regimen. I sit at my computer as soon as I get up, typically between 4:00 to 5:00 am. - when everything is picture-perfect quiet. But my length of time there varies. I may spend a half hour. I may spend eight hours - as long as the ideas continue to flow. When I’m not parked in front of the computer I keep myself busy by researching or doing something else creative; cooking, baking, cleaning, building, painting, gardening, anything to keep my mind off some literary impasse. Some days I return at night to write more. Most times I don’t. I refuse to beat myself up over slow days. My muse is not a harsh taskmaster. She simply urges me to live my life as it comes. I surround myself with histories having to do with the 19th century. Thumbing through them I’ll get an urge to add a character type or repeat an odd occurrence ‘ve read about. Some days I’ll sit in our hot tub and pick up cues watching nature. Sometimes while walking the dogs I’ll watch people on the street and entire scenes unfold in my mind. One thing I have learned - ideas come when they’re meant to come. I don’t believe in writer’s block. I do believe some ideas need to germinate longer than others. I will say this. For each hour I spend writing, I spend three researching and for each page written, I can honestly say I will rewrite it at least four to five times, often more.

Writing has always been easy for me. I absolutely love stringing words together. More often than not I will string them badly, but that’s ok. It’s all part of the process. Every time I rewrite a page it comes to life that much more. I’ve had five volumes of the Snakebit series written and published so far. Am just beginning to convert them to audio books. I am currently working on book 15 in the series with three more planned following its completion. My series characters are very real to me. Sitting down to my keyboard each day is like reuniting with old friends. I’ve become attached to them and often they surprise me. I don’t always know what they’re going to do. I cheer them. I chide them. I mourn for them when they die. Do I have advice for budding writers. Of course! Don’t ever, ever think your words will come out golden the first time they appear on the screen or the page. Words require coaxing and massaging, at times they must be torn apart and put back together as if they were parts of a jigsaw puzzle. As long as you have faith in your objective, you will eventually put the proper pieces in their proper places.

Thank you for taking an interest in my writing!