Along the way to her science fiction suspense career she's been married to a wonderful guy since just out of college, been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa, raised a family (two girls, two grandkids), tried organic farming, worked as a freelance journalist and editor, been a community activist, and earned black belts in two different styles of martial arts. Her first two SFR novels finaled in the Romance Writers of America(R) Golden Heart(R) contest. She lives on 44 beautiful mountain acres in Marshall, NC, with her husband and two talkative cats.