My mother swears I was born reading.  (My mother was my best life coach).  I often wonder, though, if any of the delivery-room nurses in Poplar Bluff, Missouri ever corroborated her declaration.  But since my stay in that small Southern town was brief and since memory of that trip through the birth canal has blurred, I defer to Mom.  Easy to do.  She was my real-life heroine. 

I do remember:  I was definitely reading before I started grade school in Maryville, Missouri.  As the oldest of six kids, I read lots of bedtime stories to my brothers and sisters.  Life with them was hectic, but I still managed to read daily.  (I have been known to read the back of cereal boxes in a pinch).  I won the library's summer reading contests hands down.

During high school in Clinton, Missouri I worked at the Henry County Library.  What a fantastic job.  I almost felt guilty depositing my monthly checks.  I've often thought I became an English teacher so I could reread so many of my favorite authors. 

My house in Silicon Valley, near the fast-lane exit, is filled with books I love and cannot bear to sell or give away.  Every day, usually around 2 P.M., I have lap time with my literary muse TC.  While he snuggles and purrs, I read and purr for ten to twenty minutes.  Reading in bed is the perfect end to the day, IMO.  My husband, once a non-reader, now often reads longer into the night than I.

Below are a few FAQs and answers inquiring minds sometimes want to know about me, the writer. 

When did you start writing?

Not at birth, but I finished my first novel in high school.  It was flat-out awful and I destroyed it before going to college.

What did you study in college?

American and Spanish Lit.   Jorge Luís Borges is a poet and short-story writer I still admire.  Nathaniel Hawthorne, the19th-century American novelist and short-story writer is underappreciated by modern readers, IMO.  Hawthorne influenced my decision to write about the religious themes of Benito Pérez Galdós for my first Master's thesis.

Ten years later, those authors, along with Judy Blume, Grimm's Fairy Tales and Dr. William Glasser's Reality Therapy provided the spark for a second thesis on the theme of divorce in children's literature.  (Leaving my teaching career at a college-prep school and earning my MLS opened an opp for a major reinvention.  Enrolling in library school meant major changes in my family's life as well.  Being an absentee mom almost derailed me the first week when my son broke his arm.  My husband said, "Don't come home.  The doctor says it's a simple break and he doesn't need your help to set it.")

And . . . you said?

"Gulp."  Then I started crying.  My husband made me promise I'd wait for his call and stay on campus—125 miles away from our home in Kansas City.  Several more gulps, then I sucked it up and stayed by the phone feeling like a very bad mother.  I talked with my son the next morning and he was excited because I hadn't come home and he'd been so brave.  Ahhh, yes.  

So how’d you manage Grad School with kids and husband?

A scholarship from the Missouri State Library shored up the money hole created by my loss of income from teaching.  On the home front, my husband stayed in Kansas City so the kids could remain in their schools while I lived on campus in Columbia. 

I came home the first semester on Friday afternoons and made the 125-mile return trip after Sunday supper.  Second semester, I stayed with my roommate Monday and Tuesday nights and went home on Wednesday morning.  It was a huge change for all of us, but we managed pretty well.  (I never missed a Friday afternoon car pool because of my schedule, and everyone in the family learned how the washing machine worked, how wonderful frozen casseroles can be, how unnecessary it is to sweep the floor after every meal when Mom's not there).

How’d you segue from teaching to public libraries to IBM?

The short answer: I slept with the right man.

The longer answer: I wanted a career that gave me more flexibility in the job market since my husband worked for IBM and wanted to take a job in a different state.  Career opps in the computer world looked brighter than options in public libraries.  My husband  encouraged me to apply at IBM after we moved from Kansas City to Tampa.  It was such a long-shot since I'm technically challenged.  But I did understand customer service and I did understand I'd be crazy to brush off this chance at reinvention. 

Working for the company changed my life, giving me a chance to explore ideas and technologies I'd never imagined.  My husband and I worked at the same location in Tampa, then took temp assignments (together) in Buenos Aires.  Three years later, we moved to Silicon Valley to work in the emerging technology of Artificial Intelligence.  I hardly had a clue what AI is, but reading helped me figure out enough to learn on the run.  Developing marketing materials for potential applications really honed my fiction-writing skills.

Why’d you leave your day job?

IBM offered a package I couldn't resist.  I received money for re-education—or what I thought of as reinvention.  I decided to do something with zero connection to computers.  A story was banging away in my head, refusing to let me forget it.  I waffled a while, then finally enrolled for a creative writing course at UC-Berkeley.  There, I got hooked on craft by James N. Frey, How to Write a Damn Good Novel.  He encouraged me to nurture my humorous voice instead of trying to force a more ‘serious' tone on my work.  Thanks, Jim.

Do you regret the move to writing full time since you haven’t made the NYT?

Nope.  Writing for me has been the most exciting, fulfilling, challenging career I've ever undertaken.  My husband David is amazingly supportive and agrees there's more to life than money.  Not to say I don't fantasize following in Nora Roberts' footsteps with three or four books on the hardback and paperback best selling lists simultaneously, month after month, year after year.  Go, Nora!

When did you get published?

My debut novel, PRINCE OF FROGS came out in 2004.  QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE appeared on shelves the next year.

Do you write every day?

Up until recently, yes.  Two years ago, the death of a friend changed my work routine.  I cut back the number of hours I spent writing every day.  I'm  firm  believer in daily writing—even if only one line a day.  I almost always hit my goal of five clean pages on Monday-Friday and half that number on weekends.

What interests or hobbies do you pursue besides reading?

I walk at least five miles every day.  Living in California, I can rarely use bad weather as an excuse to miss my goal.  And, I happen to love walking.  Some of my best solutions to story problems come to me during or after a long walk.

I also take an aerobic dance class 3 days a week.  Once a week, I attend tai'chi and repeatedly vow I'll practice more. 

Cooking used to be a favorite activity, but these days I leave the day-to-day meals to my husband.

I also judge RWA contest entries, lead workshops at chapter meetings and teach on-line courses.  I meet with my Critique Partner 45 weeks out of the year on Tuesday afternoons.  I look forward to her comments—even when she finds an opportunity I missed in my mss for drama, conflict, humor or clearer writing.  Keep me honest, Sueann.

Why’d you create a new website? You don’t have a soon-to-be published book . . .

Ouch.  But I intend to have a book published very soon.  Stay tuned.