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Q: What inspired you to start writing?
I had a creative writing teaching in 8th grade that honored whatever I wrote. Then when I was in high school, I wrote a piece, my uncle saw it on our round table in the dining room, read it and asked me why I wasn't pursuing writing.
I let this passion lay dormant for way too many years because life got in the way. I became a writing teacher and realized I loved writing. That became the impetus to my writing.
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Q: Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
I'm writing an AutoFiction (autobiography fiction) and fictionalizing my incest story. I wrote it in November 2016 during NaNoWriMo(National Novel Writing Month) and accumulated over 50,000. Then a major book project landed in my lap and I stepped away from it. Then more books came a long.
In 2025, the Epstein Files reminded me of this book as a possible source of healing for sexual abuse survivors. So with urgency I have been working on it.
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Q: How do you create your characters?
One of my characters is me in this book; the other main character is a loving supporter of my work.
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Q: What does your typical writing day look like?
It varies because I'm retired. Usually I do most of my writing in the afternoon and evening.
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Q: What has been the most rewarding part of being an indie author?
I love being in control of everything pertaining to my book. It's my baby and I want to be able to make all the major decisions about it: the book cover, the book description, what stays in the manuscript and what goes. I do have an editor I have worked with on my last six books, but she and I have a fabulous working relationship about the manuscript. She sees me as having the final say.
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Q: What’s one challenge you’ve faced in your writing journey?
Marketing haunts my every day. I see the lack of sales and my heart aches. I know I should be doing more, but even as I'm retired, there's not enough hours in the day to market ten books, three cookbooks and three audiobooks.
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Q: Do you have any favorite writing tools or apps?
I love the app, Scrivener. Everything I need I can put in it for major organizational ease: my research (websites, documents, pictures, etc.). The layout is easy for me to navigate and then I export it easily and import into Vellum for publication.
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Q: What advice would you give to new or aspiring indie authors?
I wrote my first book in 1986, and it lay in a file on my computer, quietly sometimes, screaming other times, but I ignored it. I didn't publish it until 2016 or 17. Don't wait. Don't let life's routines convince you that your writing isn't important.
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Q: How do you handle book promotion as an indie author?
I have done lots of trainings, free and paid for. I have found a few that I use regularly. I joined Derek Doepker's book coaching group and have gathered so many resources their from Derek and the members of the group. And I stay teachable.
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Q: What’s next for you? Are you working on a new book?
Yes, my AutoFiction book, Eyewitness to Healing, my incest story fictionalized.
