Bi·og·ra·phy (bīˈäɡrəfē): a history of a person’s life
Furniture maker Matthew Holdren used barge board harvested after Hurricane Katrina to build my writing desk (pictured above). The wood was once part of barges that moved along the Mississippi River to transport goods. Eventually, local residents broke up the barges and used the wood to build shotgun houses and cottages.
My desk has a story, and that makes it a great place to write one.
I ate a dead yellow jacket at 8 months old; knocked out my front teeth at 1; split my chin open at 4; nearly drowned at 6; and got my first kiss at 7 on the school playground. His name was Eddie. And I liked it.
Life hands us all kinds of unique experiences that can break, make, and shape us—oh, and give us lots to talk about during our journey in the land of the living.
My journey began in Texas, where my fondest memories include playing hide-and-seek with my siblings in my grandmother’s purple irises and fishing for crawdads in the cow pond with my big brother. Oklahoma was the next stop, the place where I grew into my big feet, got baptized, and bought my first car, a yellow Ford Pinto.
An ever-so-kind journalism professor convinced me to attend Oklahoma Baptist University, the place where I fell in love with reading and writing. After graduation, I worked as a radio, newspaper, and television reporter, and later, opened my own writing and editing agency to help companies tell their stories.
My trek into “noveling” kicked into gear when my creative wheels needed some new adventures. So, when I’m not working with corporate clients, you’ll find me mapping plot lines and posting character ideas on sticky notes all over the wall.
People ask me, “How can you write all day?” My response usually goes something like this: “How can you paint houses all day or do people’s taxes or bake cakes or develop software all day?”
We all have our thing. One of mine is novel writing. I create stories that explore family relationships and the bonds that break and heal. I keep content PG-rated and use humor whenever I can—we all need a little more funny in our lives.
Personal motto: If only life could be structured as neatly as a sentence.
Visit my “Services” section to learn more about my non-fiction writing gigs, from feature writing to executive speeches and blogs.