My Bio

I grew up as an animal lover and bookworm with an artistic bent. As a child I was always conjuring up stories in my head, and I even consigned some of them to paper, but I “outgrew” that. I graduated from Florida State University with degrees in Psychology and Biology, married, raised a son, and engaged in a banking career. My husband, James, supported and encouraged my interests in oil painting, rescuing homeless pets, and creative arts and crafts.

Then, in middle age, James and I adopted Rosemary, a severely abused little girl who had been in Florida’s state foster care system for a long time, and what an adventure it was! After a while I started keeping notes to help me remember the details of the many sad, funny and poignant events we experienced with our new daughter. A couple of years later I discovered that I had accumulated a large collection of memories, enough to be the basis for a real book, and I wanted to share my experiences. And Rosemary was still growing up, constantly supplying new input to my treasure trove of tales.

With such material in hand, the urge to write something special descended upon me, and it could not be denied. So, I became a member of the Tallahassee Writers Association, and took some creative writing courses. Eventually, in a seven-year labor of love, I wrote the complete story of my relationship with Rosemary, including how we came together in the first place, in my memoire, Daughter of My Heart.

At this time I reside with James in retirement near Tallahassee, Florida, surrounded by numerous pets. Rosemary is happily married and living a few miles away.