Horse + dirt = heaven!

I was born a tomboy. Give me dirt, I was in it, a tree, I was up it. I was “essence of horse.” At eight my parents shipped me to summer camp in the redwoods for three weeks. I begged my way into ten. One summer stretched to a decade of overnights and campfires, ocean swims and streamside hikes, and “hunting” elusive, wild critters. Those escapist days fed my curiosity and my soul. As did books. I read wherever I could tote a story between its cardboard covers — by flashlight under the covers, nested in tall grass on the vacant lot next door, or perched high in our backyard cottonwood tree. I became the heroes in my favorites: Maurice Sendak’s curious, awkward, yet beloved Little Bear. Kate Seredy’s The Good Master created dreams of life as a Hungarian shepherd. C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Magician’s Nephew unlocked the cabinet of deep imagination — the fantastic made real, children with power over darkness.

My mother with me in Dad’s hat

In part, my dreamy, creative impulses grew from a need to re-imagine my mother. She died when I was three and our past was quietly set aside. Eventually, I realized gifts in my pain and loss — imagination, story-telling, and empathy for my characters and the readers I hope connect with them. An “evolver,” I’ve tiptoed narrow paths, sped through caution and stop signs, and cruised comfortable boulevards on over-inflated tires. Each held mistakes and triumphs. I’ve sold bearings, belts, and, chains to farmers, survived office accounting jobs, and owned a catering and cooking school business. At 42, I turned environmental activism into a college degree and a job as Executive Director of a California Resource Conservation District in the county where I spent most of my life. I’m reformatting again, finally back to the Northern California coast I love. Merging a writing life with the business of publishing is fascinating and challenging to my brain and patience. The sense of teetering on the rim of control reminds me what I felt as a teenager like Elizabeth. Thank goodness I have more tools in the trunk this trip. I’m a passionate sharer — books, tidbits of info, recipes, how to do stuff. I love history — genealogy especially — photography, music and singing, drawing, good movies, good food, and refueling through nature walks and meditation. Writing presses the guts and edges of my life. Sometimes it hurts, often it excites and rewards. My patient husband and fellow-writer keeps me sane, loved, and in lunches out.

TEST DRIVE THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS – FREE

 Elizabeth’s Landing Sample

Read my INTERVIEW with renowned author Catherine Ryan Hyde (best known for Pay It Forward).

REVIEWS FOR ELIZABETH’S LANDING ARE HERE

   Find the paperback at CreateSpace,

INDIEBOUND, and Amazon.com.

The e-books are available for Nook, Kindle, and KOBO.

NOW OUT AS AN AUDIOBOOK

Resellers: contact me or buy through Ingram. 

For ages 10 to ageless.

Part of book sale profits supports sea turtle conservation programs.

Elizabeth’s Landing is an indie book from Pyewacky Press.

If you would like to get in touch, go to the Contact Me page, leave your e-mail address. Elizabeth’s story has its own page under “Home.” Find out more about the book here. My blog pieces share info on nature and the environment, books and writing, and the power of kids creating positive change. A joy and challenge for the rest of us. Peace, inside and out.