Creds & Quirks

Should anyone care to crack the cover, these are the creds and quirks that bind together the pages of my story.

Writing Creds

Lost Codex of the Christian Heretics reached #5 in its niche on Amazon (just behind James Michener’s The Source)
Lost & Found in Egypt debuted at #2 in its niche on Amazon, earning it a “Hot New Read” listing.
“Clomping Through Life in Alligator Pumps” won the Best Single Line prize at the Willamette Writers Conference (2018)

Education, Experts & Experiences: To write The Lost Codex of the Christian Heretics, I researched early Christianity and Gnosticism for decades and met with luminaries on the subject, such as Elaine Pagels, James Robinson and Stephen J. Patterson.

I traveled solo to Egypt and Sinai in 1999 to immerse myself in the culture––including the maniacal traffic, the sounds of the Muezzin, and the smells of the vast bazaars of the Middle East. I explored mosques, monuments, and markets. I climbed Mt. Sinai and took a boat upstream along the Nile…

…before returning, forever changed, to normal life. (Lost and Found in Egypt: A Most Unlikely Journey Through the Shifting Sands of Love and Loss).

I also read every book under the sun about the heretical band of early Christians who dared to claim that the Divine resides in the Self.

My True North

In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King wrote: “You must not go lightly to the page.”

Ding! The words resonate so loud I have to put the book down. It’s as though I’m suddenly standing in my underwear in front of a mirror, confronted with my imperfect, aging reflection.

The words still rattle around my brain, not because I read this by a master storyteller, or learned it in a workshop, but because I was born with it in my bones. It is my true north.

And someone put it in black and white, for all the world to see. The words have given me a mandate and a compass.

So, in between working Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm, keeping the larder stocked and the garden alive, I write. And I read. I go where the arrow points me.

5 Quirky Things About Me

I’ve been dubbed (not inaccurately) as “The Queen of Puttering” because I can’t sit still
I can plant a garden, repair a fence, bake apple pie, gut a fish, drive a stick shift, and sew lingerie. But I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, play a musical instrument, or do a back-flip
My favorite meal: Potato chips and ranch dip with a Diet Coke over ice (aaah!)
Nothing makes me happier inside than a beautiful turn of phrase
Guilty pleasure: Italian leather flats

My Best Work

• The Lost Codex of the Christian Heretics
• Lost & Found in Egypt: A Most Unlikely Journey through the Shifting Sands of Love & Loss
• Sail Team Seattle–Custom magazine for Seattle Yacht Club
• Cascades East: Recreation & Adventure–Lifestyle magazine
• NW Road Tripper–Ecotourism travel and recreation website
• “Good-bye My Pirate Lover”

My Favorite Places

• Tamolich Falls, McKenzie River, Oregon
• The Rose Garden, Missoula, Montana
• La Villetta, My cottage in Portland
• The Heart Tree in Hailey, Idaho
• The Nile River

My Other Favorites

• Movie: The English Patient
• Book: The English Patient
• Recording Artist: Brandi Carlyle
• Opera Singer: Andrea Bocelli
• Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke
• Classic Film: The Wizard of Oz
• My Other Favorite Book & Movie: The Hours