Someone once asked if any of my books were based on life experiences. I replied, “All of them.”
What writer doesn’t use personal anecdotes for inspiration?
Born to a “Steel Magnolia” mother and a father as genteel as Rhett Butler, I grew up the youngest of four and the only girl—both a blessing and a curse. Mom dreamed of a demure, ladylike daughter. What she got was a tomboy who left lace dangling from fences as I scrambled over them like a monkey.
Although I was raised a “city girl”, my summers were spent living off-grid on our small farm where I helped tend livestock, harvested produce from our large garden, and rode my horse bareback across prairie grassland. With no amenities other than a small one-room cabin, we hauled in drinking water, used an outhouse for business, read by kerosene lamps, and cooked on a wood stove. I honed my instincts — predicting rain by scent, “feeling” the seasons change – before they did, detecting visitors by my horse’s twitching ears long before they were visible, and heeding my surroundings by tuning into the universal wildlife communication system.
My experiences and relationships enrich every story I write, as do the memories from countless road trips and camping excursions with my family.
When my female protagonists face their darkest moments, I channel my mother’s indomitable spirit to navigate challenges. When patience, acceptance, and wisdom are needed, it is my father’s voice guiding my character. But when tempers flare, independence borders on stubbornness, and sass spills across the page in a string of saucy dialogue – that’s all me.
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