About Me

I was born and raised in Ohio. So were my parents and 3 of my grandparents. We're Buckeyes all the way. Akronites. Clevelanders. So when I felt called to attend college in the far-off state of Minnesota, I think it surprised everyone— even me. But I went anyway, and that one decision majorly impacted the rest of my life.

I met my husband during my internship as a youth pastor in northern Minnesota. After graduation, he and I got married, moved a few times, had our first two kids, and then settled in his home town where we had three more kids. I love almost everything about life in Minnesota. And the things I don't love, I still get a kick out of. People here do strange things sometimes—and I love to write about it.

Life hasn't always been sunshine and roses, though. We lost our young son in 2006 to a viral infection, we're raising three boys with primary immunodeficiency, and in late 2022 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and will soon undergo a double mastectomy. So yeah, there have been bumps along the way. But I'm here to serve the Lord in whatever way He calls me to do so. If He can use my struggles to help others, I want to be available, and I think I can best do that through fiction. My experiences serve to make my stories that much richer, deeper, and more meaningful. Hopefully my readers will know that these stories are coming from the heart of someone who's "been there." Thanks for joining me on this journey.

I'm a die-hard romantic. I have no desire to read a book or watch a movie if there isn't a strong romantic thread. I enjoy superhero movies...as long as the superhero has a love interest. Action movies? Eh, they're ok, as long as two people fall in love while the plane they're on is going down! I just LOVE a good love story! Lost loves reunited, ex-rivals realizing they're actually soul mates, marriages of convenience turning into matches made in heaven...yes, please. The same goes for the stories that I write. Every one of them is a romance. And because I find Minnesota so fascinating, each of my stories is set here. You can be sure that I'll throw in plenty of lakes, sub-zero winters, and even a mosquito or two, just for authenticity!

I have three sons with a chronic condition called Primary Immunodeficiency Disease, and one son who died at the age of 9 months from this condition. I've spent many years asking God, "Why?" Why them, why me, why this? It was in 2011 that God finally opened my eyes by asking me, "Why not you? Who do you think you are that you're above suffering?" Then one day, while sitting in a hospital waiting room, I discovered this verse: 1 Corinthians 1:3-4, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

Ever since I read that verse, I knew I was called to take my own experience with suffering and loss and pour it into fictional stories that deal with tough, real-life situations—some dealing with loss, others with doubt and unanswered prayer—in order to come alongside others who may be going through similar experiences. I hope to share what God has taught me through my fictional characters. But don't worry, there will be plenty of laughs and romance, too!  I have so many stories floating around in my head...enough to last for years and years!