I grew up in Findlay, Ohio, in a large family. As the oldest of six
children in an often loud and chaotic house, I discovered early on that I
could escape some of the chaos by losing myself in a book. I did this
frequently and with such efficiency that my two youngest brothers could
be rolling around on the floor fighting three feet from me...and I would
be oblivious. In my imagination, I was probably somewhere on the
prairie in the old west or on a rocket to the moon. You can go anywhere
in a book.
It is not too surprising then, that I had a dream of one day becoming a writer. When I was in about 4th grade, I used to say that when I grew up, I wanted to be a teacher during the school year, a librarian in the summer...and a writer in my spare time.
Up until age 49, my only published work was a poem published as an award winner in the October 1974 "Wee Wisdom" children's magazine. The funny thing about that one was that I had forgotten the assignment given by Mrs. Gerber, my 6th grade language arts teacher, to write a poem. As I stood with my classmates outside her door waiting for the previous class to be dismissed, someone asked me what I had written. Frantically, I asked if anyone had a piece of paper I could borrow. Someone gave me a small sheet torn from a 3X5 notepad on which I scribbled eight lines of poetry, breathed a sigh of relief, and turned it in. I didn't find out until I was in 7th grade that my teacher had liked the poem, submitted it, and that it had been published.
Over the years, I have written a number of other things including a Christmas play, a children's musical, and a number of short skits. These have all been performed, but not yet officially published. Currently, I have three ideas in various stages of development for collections of anecdotes on topics ranging from language bloopers to Merrin family legends. The first would likely appeal to expatriates living around the world. The last, though, is likely to have a fairly limited audience.
"From Captive to Conqueror" is my first work to be launched as a Kindle book. This book was conceived during a time of great growth and change in my personal life as I finally found freedom in some areas of my life that had been held captive in ever-increasing ways for 26 years. It was during this time that 2 Samuel 22 virtually jumped off the page of my Bible and grabbed my attention. Over the next month, I repeatedly returned to that passage. Time after time, I would see in those verses something new that spoke to me. I began to write these reflections down simply to cement in my own heart the truths I was finding. I shared some of these reflections with a number of friends who encouraged me to finish the project and share them with others. Ten years later, "From Captive to Conqueror" was born.
As for my personal life, I currently minister with children and teens at a children's home in Southeast Asia. I have lived in this area of the world since 1993, and deeply love the people here. I am a single mom to a beautiful daughter who I adopted from this country. She has been with me since she was six weeks old, with the adoption finally being finished when she was two years old. That could be another story to write, but as it is HER story, I don't think I'll ever publish it as part of a biography. But who knows...a fictionalized version might show up somewhere along the line in that novel I want to write someday.
It is not too surprising then, that I had a dream of one day becoming a writer. When I was in about 4th grade, I used to say that when I grew up, I wanted to be a teacher during the school year, a librarian in the summer...and a writer in my spare time.
Up until age 49, my only published work was a poem published as an award winner in the October 1974 "Wee Wisdom" children's magazine. The funny thing about that one was that I had forgotten the assignment given by Mrs. Gerber, my 6th grade language arts teacher, to write a poem. As I stood with my classmates outside her door waiting for the previous class to be dismissed, someone asked me what I had written. Frantically, I asked if anyone had a piece of paper I could borrow. Someone gave me a small sheet torn from a 3X5 notepad on which I scribbled eight lines of poetry, breathed a sigh of relief, and turned it in. I didn't find out until I was in 7th grade that my teacher had liked the poem, submitted it, and that it had been published.
Over the years, I have written a number of other things including a Christmas play, a children's musical, and a number of short skits. These have all been performed, but not yet officially published. Currently, I have three ideas in various stages of development for collections of anecdotes on topics ranging from language bloopers to Merrin family legends. The first would likely appeal to expatriates living around the world. The last, though, is likely to have a fairly limited audience.
"From Captive to Conqueror" is my first work to be launched as a Kindle book. This book was conceived during a time of great growth and change in my personal life as I finally found freedom in some areas of my life that had been held captive in ever-increasing ways for 26 years. It was during this time that 2 Samuel 22 virtually jumped off the page of my Bible and grabbed my attention. Over the next month, I repeatedly returned to that passage. Time after time, I would see in those verses something new that spoke to me. I began to write these reflections down simply to cement in my own heart the truths I was finding. I shared some of these reflections with a number of friends who encouraged me to finish the project and share them with others. Ten years later, "From Captive to Conqueror" was born.
As for my personal life, I currently minister with children and teens at a children's home in Southeast Asia. I have lived in this area of the world since 1993, and deeply love the people here. I am a single mom to a beautiful daughter who I adopted from this country. She has been with me since she was six weeks old, with the adoption finally being finished when she was two years old. That could be another story to write, but as it is HER story, I don't think I'll ever publish it as part of a biography. But who knows...a fictionalized version might show up somewhere along the line in that novel I want to write someday.
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