I was born in Chicago, but have spent most of my adult life living in Duluth, Minnesota. I love living near Lake Superior. There's no better place to go fishing and camping than on one of our inland lakes. After all, we're the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," although I haven't fished them all...yet. I also enjoy walking through the woods. I can't call it hiking because I move at a slower pace than other trekkers I've seen on the trails. I prefer watching nature, taking pictures or sitting near a babbling brook writing about what is around me.
Writing has been my passion since I was about 12 years old. I used to spend a lot of time in my room listening to music, reading, or writing short stories and poetry.
"Get outside and play with your friends," my mother would holler at me from downstairs. "Stop daydreaming!"
I heard the same thing from my teachers. "You could be a really good student if you'd stop daydreaming, and focus," I was focusing...on my next adventure. Well, word must have gotten around school because none of my teachers would seat me next to a window...hmmm, I wondered.
I found my passion in writing from doing a lot of reading. I'd read books about other countries, or people from other cultures. Sometimes, I'd sit on my front porch and just watch people; their clothes, their behavior or their facial expressions. Observation and imagination can take you anywhere you want to go, be anything you want to be, and do anything you want to do. That's what I like about writing. You create characters and ask, "What would I do if...?"
That's generally the first question I ask myself when I sit down to begin a story..."What if...?"
What if a young boy named Noah opened his front door one bright Saturday morning, but instead of finding the same old boring yard, he finds a slow moving river? The wind is blowing branches and leaves all around him. Bracing himself against the front of the house, he inches his way along the edge of the river. His foot slips in the mud and...
That's how it all begins. From there, anything is possible. Does he fall into the river? Where does it take him? Where was he going when he left the house? Will he try to make it to the other side? More importantly, what will he find? Your imagination can take him on an adventure. And, boy, what an adventure that can be!