My favorite desk accessories for many years were a circular wooden token, better known as a 'round tuit,' and a slip of paper from a fortune cookie proclaiming me a lover of words; predicting some day I'd write a book. All it took was a transfer to the United Kingdom, the lovely English springtime, and a huge dose of homesickness to write my first novel. Once it was completed and sent off with a kiss, even the rejections addressed to 'Dear Author' were gratifying.
After returning to America, I spent a number of years as a copywriter, dedicating my writing skills to making insurance and the agents who sell them sound sexy. Eventually, my full-time job as a writer interfered with my desire to be a writer full-time and I left the world of financial products behind to pursue an avocation as a romance author.
My gamble paid off when I was a 2012 Finalist in the prestigious Golden Pen contest for Romantic Suspense and I received contracts for my first book. I followed that up with a second and third book. And I'm still writing.