YRW News & Blog

    Time to share about me.

Arizona – that’s where I started, and where I intend to end this mortal walk.

I LOVE the desert. It is my home, my spiritual wellspring. I grew up on a gold mine about 50 miles outside of Phoenix. To say it was a gold mine is technically correct, but very little gold was ever mined. We sure worked hard at hauling dirt and water to the top of a rickety sluice box to spend hours looking for gold in the rough burlap, though, and I guess it kept gas in the jeep and food on the table. We lived in a threadbare cabin alongside the Aqua Fria River. There was no running water, no electricity, just wide open spaces, ocotillo and saguaro, rattlesnakes and scorpions. We had goats for milk, a well with a pump for drinkin’ water, and the Aqua Fria for bathing. The closest neighbor was 6 miles or so down the river, or another 20 miles by dirt road. My two brothers and I had the freedom that comes from living in nature—the freedom to think for ourselves, to do for ourselves, and to be the kind of people we decided to be. I am grateful for that freedom to self-discover and to possess the independence of spirit and mind that I have.

When I was 13, the adults had pretty much given up the idea of mining gold for a real 1960’s livelihood. We moved to Phoenix where I graduated from eighth grade. In The Lariat, our school yearbook, I was the only girl who wanted to be anything but a housewife, teacher, or nurse. I wanted to be a zoologist. Years later – married, then mom, then divorced, and working three jobs at once, I got a Master’s in Geography/Climatology. A major part of my work in graduate school was on Joshua tree habitat as it is defined by climate. I LOVE Joshua Trees!

I also LOVE my family: two grown children and two grandchildren, and a husband—who is a force of nature all by himself. We were married in Italy, in the town of Cortona, the famous town of the book and movie, Under the Tuscan Sun. We bought a house there and restored it. We had the most wonderful experience for five years. Sadly, the housing crunch here forced us to sell the house in Italy, but we will always keep the friends!

Now, I am fighting the bit to retire and write! I began my “I’m going to be a writer” phase about two years ago. I’ve been an avid reader since I was very young. I’ve written poetry for many years, but did not think to write a book until I discovered romance novels. I love a well-written romance and am writing a romantic suspense, the setting of which is, guess where, in the New River area!  I also have been working on a memoir. So many stories from that wellspring of mine—many characters, situations, dogs, horses, coyotes, cougars, donkeys, and one mysterious old Indian . I just need to get the skill to write it properly – to do justice to the wonderful spirit of the desert, and that of my brothers and my mother.

I know the only way to get it written is to write every chance I get! I am so happy to have found YRW and to rub elbows with real writers. Hoping some of the magic will rub off on me.