WRITER - MENTOR - SPEAKER

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9


Writing came to me quite accidentally. Days after I retired from my full-time career, I was asked to volunteer for a nonprofit helping women coming out of jail and prison. Clients began to tell me their stories. I was shocked by the things I heard. After a year, I had the opportunity to make monthly visits to the world’s largest women’s prison located in Chowchilla, California. There, I heard even more. My eyes and mind were opened to realities I had never dreamed existed. Eventually, I wrote down the stories, intending to write a book filled with amazing testimonies.

But then I met Debra Rush, a victim of sex trafficking. Debra founded Breaking the Chains, an organization devoted to rescuing and restoring women from the bondage of sex traffickers. She needed her memoir written and asked me to write it. Her story, A Cry of the Heart: Human Trafficking, One Survivor's True Story, unfolded over the next five years. In the meantime, I wrote short stories that were published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Guideposts, and Focus on the Family.

I am privileged to be a writer for the Dunamis Words literary agency. 

My husband Larry and I live in Fresno, California, and attend Peoples Church. We have a married daughter and two grandchildren.

Awards: 

2018: West Coast Christian Writers, Goldie Award. Third place in a first-page writing contest.

2021: West Coast Christian Writers, Goldie Award. First place Goldie Award for 500 words Surviving COVID 

2023: Christian Indie Award. My Promise to Alex, Through Pain Comes Purpose, for memoir/biography.

2023: West Coast Christian Writers, Goldie Award. Unsung Hero.
 
2024: Finalist for Next Generation Indie Award for A Window of Hope, How We Survived Covid-19. 



















     








   




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