about me

I wrote my first “novel” when I was ten years old, although I can’t remember the name of it.  This was followed by three subsequent novels, none of which ever reached mainstream publication, but all of which retain a special place in my mother’s library.  Around the same time that I began writing my novels (all horse stories, of course), I began teaching myself how to draw horses using Sam Savitt’s How to Draw Horses (1981) as a pivotal guidebook.  Sam Savitt, himself both an accomplished writer and artist, introduced me to the incredible story of that famous horse known as “Middy” in his book Midnight: Champion Bucking Horse (1965), which I read along with every other Western that I could get my hands on.  Longing to live my life on a ranch, but unable to, I lived vicariously through the lives of the characters about whom I read, often until the wee hours of the morning, hidden under blankets with a flashlight.

the gamble: a novel began as a final writing assignment for a creative writing course I took in the fall of 2012 at Mount St. Mary’s University.  My professor encouraged me to see it all the way through—“publish this!” she wrote in the margin at the end—which inspired the years of research and writing that went into the finished product.  I would never have gotten there without the encouragement and support of so many colleagues, family, and friends along the way, reminding me regularly that we should never quit on our dreams, no matter how long it takes.

When I am not working or writing, I can be found team sorting with locals at nearby ranches, riding the beautiful trails of the Santa Margarita Riverbed, or else camping with my dog.  My dog, of course, goes everywhere with me.