Hi everyone! Let me start by saying I was never particularly good with the introductory icebreakers on the first day of school. I was the one who practiced what I was going to say when it was my turn, over and over in my head before they got to me and yet…I still managed to screw it up 98% of the time. Luckily, I’m slightly better at writing than talking- or at least I should hope- so this will probably be less painful. This would probably feel a lot less awkward if I were doing a standard Q & A, or maybe if we were playing two truths and a lie, but I will do my best.

Psst…have you figured out why I don’t write nonfiction yet?

I am a self-published author from central Michigan, and I live in Michigan with my husband, our two dogs, and our newest and cutest addition, our little girl, Charlee Rae.

I have been writing since…well, since I could write, I think. I remember putting together short picture books when I could barely use the alphabet properly, and I must have gotten some sort of joy out of it, because that continued throughout grade school until I was filling notebook upon notebook with stories. Some stories I would come up with on my own, but most of them were a combined effort. I have always been blessed with absolutely amazing friends, and I was lucky enough to have close friends who wanted to write with me. We would pass notebooks to each other between classes and I still remember the excitement of opening them up and reading each new, short addition (because that was obviously way more interesting than the Pythagorean theorem or whatever science video we were watching that day- no offense to Bill Nye).

When I started college at Central Michigan University, I was lost, to say the least. I wanted to be an author. That was the only “career” I ever wanted, the only thing I truly wanted to do with my life. But you can’t major in Authoring, so instead I tried everything. Education, physical therapy, sports medicine, athletic training, nutrition, general “health and wellness”, etc. It wasn’t great. I took a break, landed on Exercise Physiology for some time…and by some strange, winding road that I couldn’t make sense of if I tried, I ended up with a degree in Sociology and Psychology. Yeah. Weird.

Despite it taking forever for me to finally graduate from college, I now can look back and see that everything I went through, each new subject I learned, and everything I’ve now experienced because of my various phases in education has truly prepped me for what I wanted to do all along: write. I know just enough about everything I studied that I can create people who are experts in each of those things. Neat, huh?

It wasn’t until the great COVID shutdown of 2020 that I started writing again, and once I picked up a pen and put it to paper, Hard Hitter just came pouring out. I never meant for it to be published- I was doing it because I needed a hobby. I needed something to do that I genuinely enjoyed and looked forward to during the long months spent stuck at home and away from everyone.

I am so grateful for my friends and family who have been supportive throughout my journey in coming back to what I really love. I don’t know where it will take me, but I truly hope these first books I’ve released are just the beginning.