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From the moment I read my first book, I wanted to write stories. Years later, I decided that I wanted
to take that dream one step further and publish my stories for others to (hopefully) enjoy.
By the time I entered college, the dream had been replaced with more practical pursuits that
eventually resulted in an undergraduate degree in psychology and two master's degrees, in business
and health care administration, respectively.
I worked at a teaching hospital in Missouri for about ten years, starting out as the weekend secretary,
occasional "runner" and blood "spinner" for the stat lab while I was attending school. After
graduating, I moved full-time into the internal audit department and from there to accounting,
budgeting and professional services.
During my years there, I had an opportunity to do many different things. The most enjoyable coding
database programs. I even wrote a program to track incoming pledges for The Children's Miracle
Network Telethon the year it was held at the hospital - and I got to meet Dawn Wells who was our
host. Who doesn't think meeting Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island is super cool?
Among my other memorable experiences are my visits to the medical school anatomy lab. I was
friends with many of the medical students and had occasion to visit the lab more than once. Death is
an uncomfortable subject for all of us and inside the lab, every student must come to terms with it. As
a student of psychology, I found this process in others and in myself very interesting. My ultimate test
came when I was allowed to help dissect one of the bodies.
I eventually left the hospital to move back to Houston where I grew up, and took a position with a
pharmacy management company that was eventually bought by Cardinal Health.
Fast forward twenty plus years finds me still married, with three grown children, a mortgage and
enough expenses to guarantee that quitting my day job to take up writing full time is NEVER going
to happen. The "someday" we all wait for when life will be easier and we will have time to pursue our
dreams is never going to come.
In many respects, I am my father's child. My father grew up in the depression and started working
when he was eleven to bring in much needed money for the family. Getting a college education
seemed unlikely given their lack of financial means, but he figured out a way to do it. He wanted to
be a lawyer,but somewhere in his four years of undergraduate, a favorite instructor convinced him that
political science was what he wanted to pursue. He did, eventually earning a Ph.D. from Duke
University. For many years, he was a college instructor. Then he was asked to chair his department.
This was the beginning of a long and successful career in university administration. But here's the
point of my story - when he was sixty, he still wanted to be a lawyer, so he applied and was accepted
to law school. When he graduated, he took and passed the bar. At sixty-three, he took a position with
a law firm and until his retirement almost fifteen years later, he practiced law. He persevered.
So have I. I can't afford to quit my day job - it pays the bills, but you know what? I happen to like my
day job. I spend a lot of time writing, reviewing and approving contracts for the business. I get to
work with the folks in legal, finance, IT, operations and sales. It's often challenging but never
boring, especially since the company is constantly growing and evolving.
So I've found ways to write outside of work - which isn't easy. I've had to give up a few things, like
sleep and weekends, time relaxing in front of the TV after a long, hard day at work. Oh! And
housework, but hey - pursuing my dreams is worth a few sacrifices, right?
to take that dream one step further and publish my stories for others to (hopefully) enjoy.
By the time I entered college, the dream had been replaced with more practical pursuits that
eventually resulted in an undergraduate degree in psychology and two master's degrees, in business
and health care administration, respectively.
I worked at a teaching hospital in Missouri for about ten years, starting out as the weekend secretary,
occasional "runner" and blood "spinner" for the stat lab while I was attending school. After
graduating, I moved full-time into the internal audit department and from there to accounting,
budgeting and professional services.
During my years there, I had an opportunity to do many different things. The most enjoyable coding
database programs. I even wrote a program to track incoming pledges for The Children's Miracle
Network Telethon the year it was held at the hospital - and I got to meet Dawn Wells who was our
host. Who doesn't think meeting Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island is super cool?
Among my other memorable experiences are my visits to the medical school anatomy lab. I was
friends with many of the medical students and had occasion to visit the lab more than once. Death is
an uncomfortable subject for all of us and inside the lab, every student must come to terms with it. As
a student of psychology, I found this process in others and in myself very interesting. My ultimate test
came when I was allowed to help dissect one of the bodies.
I eventually left the hospital to move back to Houston where I grew up, and took a position with a
pharmacy management company that was eventually bought by Cardinal Health.
Fast forward twenty plus years finds me still married, with three grown children, a mortgage and
enough expenses to guarantee that quitting my day job to take up writing full time is NEVER going
to happen. The "someday" we all wait for when life will be easier and we will have time to pursue our
dreams is never going to come.
In many respects, I am my father's child. My father grew up in the depression and started working
when he was eleven to bring in much needed money for the family. Getting a college education
seemed unlikely given their lack of financial means, but he figured out a way to do it. He wanted to
be a lawyer,but somewhere in his four years of undergraduate, a favorite instructor convinced him that
political science was what he wanted to pursue. He did, eventually earning a Ph.D. from Duke
University. For many years, he was a college instructor. Then he was asked to chair his department.
This was the beginning of a long and successful career in university administration. But here's the
point of my story - when he was sixty, he still wanted to be a lawyer, so he applied and was accepted
to law school. When he graduated, he took and passed the bar. At sixty-three, he took a position with
a law firm and until his retirement almost fifteen years later, he practiced law. He persevered.
So have I. I can't afford to quit my day job - it pays the bills, but you know what? I happen to like my
day job. I spend a lot of time writing, reviewing and approving contracts for the business. I get to
work with the folks in legal, finance, IT, operations and sales. It's often challenging but never
boring, especially since the company is constantly growing and evolving.
So I've found ways to write outside of work - which isn't easy. I've had to give up a few things, like
sleep and weekends, time relaxing in front of the TV after a long, hard day at work. Oh! And
housework, but hey - pursuing my dreams is worth a few sacrifices, right?
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