Dreaming of Silver Roses

In choosing an author, many agents, publishers, and even readers seem very concerned with the writer’s resume. If pressed about my most important career, I would proudly proclaim that my primary job is a domestic engineer! (In other words, most days I’m a wife and stay at home mom of two!) I also substitute teach to stay in touch with the world around me.

For the first five years of my married life, my husband and I worked with teens in several small Texas churches as a youth pastor team. I had worked solo for six years with teens in small Louisiana and Texas churches during my high school and early college years. I have also worked as a soda jerk/ hash slinger in a small town mom and pops diner, a youth camp staffer at Pineywoods Encampment, a private dayschool teacher for ages 3-Kindergarten, a lawyer’s gopher, and even in a television repair shop. (Don’t worry; I am well aware that there is little of a professional author’s career in what I have listed, however, I assure you in each there is great fodder for terrific stories!)

I attended college from 1993-1997. The second year of our married life, I stopped just short of earning my degree in Secondary Education and Speech Communications when we were surprised with the arrival of our son, Mathew! We were graced with our daughter, Abbey, two years later.I found that they were an education beyond my expectations, so plans for continuing a formal education were placed on hold! However, I found myself starving to learn and desperate to work with professional literary artists. So I recently finished the Writing for Children and Teenagers course work with the Institute of Children’s Literature. In all seriousness, it was one of the greatest and most beneficial decisions I have ever made. I learned a great deal and connected with some very talented, professional people. My professor was incredible and the other faculty and staff I had contact with were helpful and informative.

I have loved writing for as long as I can remember. I have written newsletters, stories for the children I have taught and my own, youth lessons, devotionals, and drama skits. Until recently I had never been brave enough to attempt to publish anything. After finishing my course at the Institute, however, I am confident enough to begin making an attempt. I am currently enrolling for the advanced writing class at the Institute!

I am a voracious bookworm. I am insanely passionate about music, theater, and art. My husband and I are Scifi geeks and proudly self-proclaimed nerds. We love our dog, Buddy, part dachshund and part rat terrier, which I am told is known as the breed, ‘Derrier’.  ’Butt’ we try not to joke about it in front of him!

If you’re curious about my work, me, or my family you can investigate us further at:

http://www.myspace.com/dreamingofsilverroses

That is our  personal “play ground” on the net!

One of my heroes, Madeleine L’Engle has said: “Our truest responsibility to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find the truth.”   I wholeheartedly agree.