I spent my early life as a teacher, bookkeeper, business partner, rancher’s wife and mother of five lively children. Keeping up with five little bounders while wearing several hats led to numerous and, often unwanted, learning experiences. Wanted or not, these experiences prompted me to write in various genres and gave me the confidence to self-publish six of my own books.

Although I’ve always enjoyed writing, it wasn’t until 1990 that I was finally free to follow my dream, to publish a book. My first attempt at self publishing was Butterflies in the Dark, a collection of poetry that I’d written over the years.

After this initial step--a biggie for me--I joined the Red Deer and District Writers' Ink, attended writers’ workshops and practiced writing. Although there seemed to be no end of subjects to write about, I found women’s stories particularly fascinating. Sometime in the early 90s, a very special lady caught my attention. Her name was Mamie Agiurre, an awesome little person who lived through horrific times and married a man who didn’t speak her language. So it was that after nine years of research and endless nights of writing, I self published Mamie’s life story, my second book, Journey of the Heart – a true story.

Events following the printing of Journey of the Heart, in 2004, were totally amazing. First there was a gala event and banquet held in my honour at the University of Arizona where Mamie had taught as the first woman professor on campus. The banquet and subsequent book signings in Arizona paved the way for the book’s exposure in Canada and the states.

In 2005, Journey Of The Heart received the US National Santa Fe Trail Association Award for outstanding structural, organizational and historical content. The award was presented by Dr. Oliva at the association’s nation-wide symposium in McPherson, Kansas. It was thrilling!

That autumn, my husband and I set off on month-long book tour funded by the Humanities State Departments and American Historic Associations. Because Mamie’s life story had never before appeared in book form, my sponsors asked me to organize a four-person team to deliver presentations and live radio broadcasts in Missouri, Kansas and New Mexico. Accompanying me on tour were two of Mamie’s great-granddaughters and my editor from Texas. What a priceless experience!

From 2000 to 2004, I had another large project on the go: I was the editor-coordinator of the 900 page, Rocky Mountain House-Nordegg and area history book, Days After Yesterday. The job entailed chairing meetings, interviewing, writing and collecting family histories as well as giving history workshops for adults. During this time, I also served on the Parkland Historic Publishing Committee which published several history books for the Central Alberta Historic Society.

In the last five years I’ve self published four more books: Twisted Heart and Twin Heart (fiction), Mountains and Moonbeams (short stories and poetry) and Rearview Mirror (historic non-fiction). My work has also been published by conventional US and Canadian publishers, and, until recently, I was a regular columnist for Central Alberta Life. I still give readings at Stephansson House Historic Site  and contribute to an on-going museum project, Women of Aspenland, which focuses on women’s histories. I also enjoy helping other writers with their writing and welcome advice as well as queries.