Author Essay

As an author, it’s impossible to see in advance the impact my stories may have on my readers.  There’s the young man in Texas who, after encountering my books, decided he wanted to become a:  a police officer and b:  sober.  He went on to become a police chief.  There’s the oncology nurse in Seattle who discussed my books with a patient who was also a fellow fan, and the conversation helped calm the woman as she was being prepped for her first round of chemotherapy.  There are people who have told me about reading my books in hospital waiting rooms and while serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Over the years, many of my fans have become real people to me, including the one who mistakenly sent me word about her very ill--and now deceased--kitty named Tink.  I let her know that I thought she had sent her note to the wrong address, and she’s now a loyal fan.  There’s the woman who made a flamingo quilt for my grandson, in honor of our son-in-law, our grandson’s daddy, who lost his battle with malignant melanoma but whose Relay for Life time, the Cancer Fighting Flamingos, still does the walk in his honor every year.  And knowing about that, there are fans that have joined us and are CFF’s themselves.

I’m a storyteller, but my fans are my passion.  I personally read and respond to every e-mail because I want to know their stories, too