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At a recent session at a local library, someone asked the question, “Why did you write a book about the Middle East. I thought you usually wrote stories with small town settings?”

Questions like this really start the wheels spinning. Authors write the kinds of books they like to read, authors write what they know, and authors are looking for stories that are closely linked with current world events. None of these answers seemed adequate because the young woman asking the question was a beginning writer, and she was looking for an answer she could fit into some comfortable place inside her head.

I stood for a few seconds with my hands thrust down in the pockets of my jacket, and then I started to answer her question – telling her about the excitement I feel each time I discover a new article on archeology, explaining how it feels to actually work at an archaeological site, to find artifacts placed there thousands of years ago, untouched until I held them in the palm of my hand. Then suddenly, without knowing how I had gotten there, I was explaining the excitement of working in Washington, D.C. where unfolding events have an influence on the lives of people in every area of the world. I told her about love, pain, danger, and rejection, and how seemingly ordinary events can spin out of control. I told her about ethnic diversity, religious strife, and the power and odor of money. Most of the people setting around the long table were nodding in agreement, while a few frowned, not quite capable of understanding. The young woman’s face was glowing, because she understood the passion of weaving seemingly unrelated events into a story, and I’ll bet you do too, or you would not be reading this.

I am the proverbial American dreamer and I treat life as an adventure. I like to take a chance occasionally, even though I have never been one to live too close to the edge. Doing exciting things requires exercising some judgment. Some adventuresome things can become harrowing. Many adventures are a lot more fun in the telling than in the doing.

I have always tried to make every book as different from what I have written before as I possibly can. My characters are as diverse as the situation demands. I write about serious subjects, but I try to eject a sense of fun into everything I write, although I frequently deal with grief and loss. I like to give whatever I write a message of hope and redemption. I love to write about strong women – fearless and protective of their children. The world of Colonial America has always fascinated me, but I also like to write about things as current as today’s headlines.

Despite the peaceful town where I live, my imagination is often engaged in events from outside my surroundings. I frequently consult with sources in law enforcement, in government, and various other occupations. I have just completed a book about the Middle East, and have carefully cultivated a network of friends who have lived and worked in the area. Authenticity is in the details, but it is also in the way things look and smell, and in the way they feel and behave. It is my goal to capture the spirit of the widely diverse people I have known and try to portray the era in which they lived. You won’t recognize yourself in any of my books, but I hope I can make you feel that if you turn your head fast enough, you might catch a glimpse of one on my characters.