Like Gracie Lee, I’m a born-and-bred Missourian transplanted to California.
But that's where the similarity ends. I’m a writer, having been published the
first time in magazines and newspapers in 1983. Since then I’ve had over 100
newspaper bylines, dozens of short stories and magazine articles in publications
as diverse as "Law and Order Today" to "Lutheran Women" and "Womans
World". In 1988 I decided to follow the urge to write book-length fiction. I gave
myself a year to see if I could sell a novel. Nine months into that year I got
'the call' from Barbara Brett at Avalon Books, saying that she wanted to buy
TALLIE'S SONG. In all there have been 25 novels, all romances until LOVE
THE SINNER. Over the years I noticed that I was reading more and more
mystery novels while I wrote romances. I've always enjoyed a good cozy
mystery. Mystery and suspense sub-plots began to creep into my books,
although never enough to push them "over the edge" into the field of
romantic suspense. In 2000 when I thought I was settled for like in Missouri,
God had other plans. My husband interviewed with a company in California
and got a job. Suddenly we were actually considering moving from the suburbs
of St. Louis to Southern California. We moved a cat, a dog, two teenagers and my
mother-in-law, and everybody survived the trip. The teenagers have become
young men who are have flown the nest, my mother-in-law (who bears no
resemblance to Edna) moved to Florida, and I've added even more excitement to my
life by going back to graduate school. Twice. The first degree, finished in 2005, was an
MA in Humanities from Cal State-Dominguez Hills. I went into it thinking that I was
going to teach at a community college, but by the time I finished, I knew there was
something else out there for me. That same year I discovered what the “something
else” would be when I found the description of diaconal ministry on the website of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I’m a life-long Lutheran and this call to
ministry of Word and service fits me perfectly. I’m in my second year at Fuller
Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and loving almost every minute of it. The
other major difference between me and Gracie Lee Harris is that while she’s younger and
skinnier, I’ve been blessed with one long and happy marriage. We’re coming up on 29
years in 2007, something that never ceases to amaze me. You’ll notice that all my books
are dedicated first to Joe, and I expect they’ll stay that way as long as God wills.
