Death By Email

I've always been a storyteller-- but I suffer from terminal shyness. Not a good combination. Fortunately, I've been driven by the need to draw since childhood, especially horses. I drew horses on everything; book margins, homework, even the condensation on my grandma's picture windows.

I became a people-watcher, so I could tell stories with my pictures. I specialized in children's portraits and wildlife drawings emphasizing bone structures and the unique ways my subjects moved. Even at rest, certain characteristics make them easily recognizable.

From years of people-watching I had boxes full of sketches; speculating on stranger's occupations and intentions. These notes helped flesh out my subjects making the paintings more real.

There was a fair demand from galleries wanting to display my work, but I rarely had enough pieces for a decent show. Most of my pieces were commissioned and sold before I started them. In 2000, a freak accident while driving a school bus left me with a broken back. I was disabled and unable to work. On the bright side, I was confident that I could support myself with my art. I had the time for it.

About four years prior to the accident, my sister got bored one day and challenged me to write a story involving a child actor, a loopy robot, a talking cat and killer bees. We used a plot machine. Then in 2001, I began losing the use of my hands; it's now too painful to hold pen or brush. Even so, I can't stop studying people and playing my game of 'what-if.'

I've written a fantasy novel about a talking cat entitled Chatterbox and the Rebooted Beebots. There is a series in the works. In one, Chatt becomes emperor of America. In another story, he stows away on a moon shuttle to help an escaped convict prove his innocence, and he even visits his dark side (Chatt's idea, not mine) while rescuing a kidnapped child.

The mysteries took a bit longer. A writing instructor once dared me to commit murder via e-mail, so I wrote Death by E-mail. A sequel to Death is nearly finished and there are, of course, those horse stories filed in my computer.

I've had many short stories published online and essays printed in newspapers. I currently write for a small town newspaper.

Now, with two fingers, and voice recognition software which produces hilarious bloopers, I write.