I was born in Tampa, Florida, and I’ve lived in Naples, Florida for most of my life. I graduated from Naples High School in 1994, and earned a BS in Accounting from the University of South Florida in 1997. I began writing my first novel, A Prophecy Forgotten, in December of 2000. At the time, I had been toying with writing and wondering if it was something I wanted to do. That Christmas, I came down with a horrible sore throat and a fever. All I could do was lay down and read, so I began to read a book my friend had lent me: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. As I read the book, something clicked, and I began writing A Prophecy Forgotten as soon as I could hold a pencil.
On Writing: Writing is my release, but it’s also a drive. If I don’t write for a while, I become edgy and moody. You writers know what I’m talking about. My two favorite writing books are Strunk & White’s The Element’s of Style and Stephen King’s On Writing. Those are the only two books anyone needs to become a writer (in my opinion).
Here are a few (well, more than a few) tidbits of fun stuff about me.
Fun Facts: Here are a few interesting things most people probably don’t know about me.
- I’m afraid of fire. I believe it’s called pyrophobia. (Think, pyromania, except the opposite.) When I was 3 or 4, I was helping my dad fix something, and I picked up the soldering iron to give it to him. I had tiny hands back then, so by instinct, I reached for the smaller end of the soldering iron. Bad choice. 2nd degree burns. I’ve got my fear under control, somewhat. I can cook on an electric stove, iron clothes, and sit next to a fire in a fireplace. I looked like a total idiot when I hold a sparkler. (I hold it as far away from myself as possible and look the other way.) I don’t think I’ll ever be able to light a match–or a gas stove, for that matter. And I don’t like sitting around big bonfires when the wind is swirling, the fire is crackling, and huge pieces of red hot ash are flying through the air. Not my cup of tea. As long as I feel like I’m in control, I’m okay.
- I also have a tiny fear of heights. I think this is called acrophobia. I didn’t realize I had a greater fear of heights than anyone else until a few years ago when I went on a hike that was wet and slippery with a cliff that dropped off right next to where we were walking. I almost couldn’t make it up the mountain. Then we climbed on this sandy granite hill where one false slip would send us tumbling down yet another cliff to our deaths. My mom and my husband were practically imitating the River Dancers while my Dad and I were sitting on our butts (to keep our centers of gravity low) pushing ourselves back to safety with our legs. I’ve never been so scared. That’s when I found out that normal people’s feet don’t tingle when they look over a ledge, and not everyone was afraid to go down escalators when they were young. (You should have seen me at the Grand Canyon. I looked like an 80 year old, shuffling my feet until I could grab the railing. My knuckles turned white before I finished my two second glance and shuffled back to safety.) I have, however, rappelled down a 120 ft. cliff–twice, so I try to master this fear.
- I called Aaron Boone’s home run the day before it happened. No joke. It was so obvious. The Yankees had to win game 7 of the ALCS, and it had to be dramatic. Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Giambi didn’t work. Babe, Bucky Buckner, Posada didn’t work either, nor did Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Jeter. Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone had a ring to it, so the day before they played the game I told my husband that I knew Booney was going to win it for the Yankees in extra innings. You can imagine my reaction when Booney hit Wakefield’s knuckleball into left field. I ran into our bedroom where Greg was sleeping and started jumping up and down as though I was on a pogo stick yelling, “BABE! BUCKY! BUCKNER! BOONE!” over and over again. It took me a while to fully explain to him what had happened. Anyway, I called the shot.
- I cry at movies. It’s pathetic.
Interests:
- I’m the biggest New York Yankees fan south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and I love watching baseball.
- If it’s not baseball season, football will do. Go Tampa Bay Buccaneers!
- I’m a serious latte lover–Starbucks, PJ’s, Barnies, it doesn’t matter. I’ll stop at any coffee shop.
- Disney World is my happy place, and yes, I look for the hidden mickeys. I’ve found quite a few, too.
- I love the color lavender, and I can’t wait for it to come back in style.
- I have a serious toe-nail polish fetish.
Hobbies: As a writer and a wife, I don’t have much time for hobbies. I do some accounting work on the side, but I get paid for it so it’s not a hobby. Here are a few things that I love to do:
- I love to sing. I sing in the shower, in the car–anywhere no one can hear me. It took me a year before I sang in front of my husband. I think he secretly pines for those days.
- I love to jog. It gets me outside in the fresh air. Unfortunately, I can only jog at night from May until November because it’s so darn hot in Naples.
Favorite Things: This is a list of some of my favorite things in no particular order:
- Grande Iced Lattes, coffee shop not important
- In December: Starbucks Skinny Gingersnap Lattes w/ Whip
- Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia ice-cream
- Dark Chocolate
- Anything made with Dark Chocolate
- Hot tea. My favorite flavor is Earl Grey. (I’m starting to see an oral fixation problem here.)
- Anything in the purple family: lavender, plum, violet–except for bright “school colors” purple.
- Old Country Roses–the pattern
- I love the intricate designs of fine china. The flowers, colors, I think it’s so pretty. That’s why I collect:
- Tea Pots & Tea Cups
- OPI’s I’m Not Really A Waitress Red and Suzy Loves Sydney nail polish for my toes.
- My Roger Clemons, Randy Johnson, and Derek Jeter rookie cards. (I also have Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGuire….)
- Laila by Gier Ness. (I think that’s how you spell his name.) It’s a Norwegian perfume I discovered in the Norway Showcase at EPCOT. It’s the only perfume I wear.
Pet Peeves
- Being interrupted.
- People who say, “Yankees suck” in one breath and admit they don’t know what a 6-4-3 double play or a suicide squeeze is in another. (That’s why I like Red Sox fans. They know the game.)
- People who call you up to talk and then always have to check their call waiting, but that falls in the “interrupted” category.
- David Ortiz coming up to bat in the 8th or 9th with the game on the line.
- People who drive 30 mph on US 41 in Naples during rush hour.
- People who say Derek Jeter is overrated–especially when they admit they don’t know what a suicide squeeze is.
- Waiting for anything.
- Hurricanes that hit in October and put a hole in your roof.
- Skinny pants. Can we please go back to flare?
Favorite Books
- As a kid, I read tons of Nancy Drew and every Sherlock Holmes story ever written. I still like mysteries.
- I also read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
- I also like the Chronicles of Narnia series. C. S. Lewis is the writer I’d like to model myself after, but I don’t see teaching at Oxford in my near future.
- I’m currently reading an encyclopedia of weapons to aid in my writing now. It’s actually pretty interesting.
- I also love Harry Potter. I’ve read every book, seen every movie, and yes, I attended the midnight showing of The Goblet of Fire dressed as Professor McGonagall. (I took some of the girls from my youth group, and they dared me to do it.)
Favorite Music
- I like pretty much anything–especially anything I can sing to.
- I’m in a Sinatra/Rat Pack phase right now.
- I also like anything on a classic rock station
- Country
- Some hip-hop
- Most show tunes
- Blues
- Anything but the ultra hard stuff. (Not because it’s hard, but because there’s too much going on in one measure. As the king in the movie Amadeus said, “Too many notes.”)
Favorite Movies I tend toward action/adventure movies and away from comedy, unless its good, like The Whole Nine Yards. (Actually, the first screen play I wrote was a romantic comedy, but I wrote it in a month for the first Project Greenlight, and it needed to be low budget.) I’m pretty picky about plot in a movie (’cause I’m a writer), so I tend to not like “art films.” I like war films that were not made by Oliver Stone. I’ll always watch:
- The original Star Wars trilogy
- Lord of the Rings
- Indiana Jones
- Black Hawk Down
- Saving Private Ryan
- Rambo
- The Sting
- The Untouchables
- the Harry Potter series
- The Mummy
- Die Hard
- Lethal Weapon
- The Sound of Music
- Oh, and Singing in the Rain is a new favorite.
Favorite Movie Quotes: I love a good line in a movie. These are straight from the memory, so some of them might be off by a word or two (or three or four), and I can’t promise I spelled the actors correctly, either.
- “We’re on a mission from God.” Dan Ackroyd, Blues Brothers
- “This is car 55. We’re in a truck.” John Candy, Blues Brothers
- “It’s 106 miles to Chicago. We’ve got a full tank of gas; half a pack of cigarettes; it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.” Dan Ackroyd, Blues Brothers
- “My name is Bond. James Bond.” Pick your Bond, Pick your movie
- “There’s no crying in baseball!” Tom Hanks, A League of Their Own
- “Lollygaggers, sir.” Robert Wuhl, Bull Durham
- “Hit the bull.” Kevin Costner, Bull Durham
- “What in the wide, wide world of sports is goin’ on here?” Slim Pickens, Blazing Saddles
- “My grandmother was Dutch.” Cleavon Little, Blazing Saddles
- “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” Mandy Patinkin, Princess Bride
- “Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togetheh today. That bwessed awwangement. That dweam within a dweam.” Peter Cook, Princess Bride
- “You’re drowning in the river!” an extra, That Thing You Do
- “They loved him up and turned him into a horny toad.” Tim Blake Nelson, O Brother Where Art Thou?
- “Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?” Michael Palin, Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail
- “Now we see the violence that’s inherent in the system!” Michael Palin, Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail
- “Just a flesh wound.” John Cleese, Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail
- “I’m not dead, yet.” John Young, Monte Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail
- “Three shall be the number of the throw, and the number of the throw shall be three.” Michael Palin, Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail
- “♫Brave Sir Robin ran away.♫” One of the Monty Pythons, Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail
- “Run Away!” Graham Chapman, Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail
- “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Roy Scheider, Jaws
- “But why is the rum gone?” Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- “Hide the rum.” Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
- “It comes in pints? I’m getting one.” Billy Boyd, The Fellowship of the Ring
- “I wasn’t droppin’ no eaves.” Sean Astin, The Fellowship of the Ring
- “What do they eat when they can’t get hobbit?” Dominic Monaghan, The Fellowship of the Ring
- “A servant of the enemy ought to feel more foul and look more fair,” Sean Astin, The Fellowship of the Ring
- “That still only counts as one!” John Rhys Davies, The Return of the King
- “A diversion.” Orlando Bloom (as Legolas, master of the obvious), The Return of the Ring
- “Sneaking.” Andy Serkis as Gollum, The Return of the King
- “I can’t carry the ring for you, Master Frodo, but I can carry you.” Sean Astin, The Fellowship of the Ring
- “For an Irishman to converse with an equal, he is forced to talk to the Almighty.” The guy who played the only Irish character in, Braveheart
- “I was going to stay here and reconnoiter.” John Hannah, The Mummy
- “Will someone get this big, walking carpet out of my way?” Carrie Fischer, Star Wars: A New Hope
- “No reward is worth this.” Harrison Ford, Star Wars: A New Hope
- “Control, control, you must learn control,” Frank Oz as Yoda, Empire Strikes Back
- “You said wanted to be around when I made a mistake. This could be it, sweetheart.” Harrison Ford, Empire Strikes Back
- “Luke? A Jedi? I’m out for a while and everyone’s getting delusions of grandeur.” Harrison Ford, Return of the Jedi
- “It’s against my programming to impersonate a deity.” Anthony Daniels as C3PO, Return of the Jedi
- “Snakes. Why does it have to be snakes?” Harrison Ford, Raiders of the Lost Ark
- “Asps. Very dangerous. You first.” John Rhys Davis, Raiders of the Lost Ark
- “I’m making this up as I go.” Harrison Ford, Raiders of the Lost Ark
- “You just killed all those men!” Sean Connery, The Last Crusade
- “No ticket.” Harrison Ford, The Last Crusade
- “If you stand to be counted with the enemy of all the grail stands for, who gives a d— what you believe?” Harrison Ford, The Last Crusade
- “I’m sorry, Mr. President. I don’t dance.” Harrison Ford, Clear & Present Danger
- “Lieutenant Dan! Ice cream!” Tom Hanks, Forest Gump
- “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.” Tom Hanks, Forest Gump
- “No breaks.” Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock), The Rundown
- “Santa Claus doesn’t give any breaks.” Sean William Scott, The Rundown
- “Your husband ain’t dead, lady. He’s hiding.” Dennis Leary, The Ref
- “Father, you smoke?” Chris Tucker, The Fifth Element
- “You want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.” Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men
- “I want the truth!” Tom Cruise, A Few Good Men
- “You can’t handle the truth!” Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men
- “I collect spores, molds, and fungus.” Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters
- “The best trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.” Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects
- “That’s the problem with terrorists. They don’t care about other people’s schedules.” Arnold Schwarzenegger, True Lies
- “You must love the little birdies to give them this to perch on.” Steve Martin, Roxanne
- “They hate the cans!” Steve Martin, The Jerk
- “I have a special purpose!” Steve Martin, The Jerk
- “Billy Idol gets it.” Adam Sandler, The Wedding Singer
- “They have a hard candy shell. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.” Chris Farley, Tommy Boy
- “Are you talking?” David Spade, Tommy Boy
- “You have to ask yourself, ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do yah? Punk?” Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry
- “Don’t bother yourself with the secrets of scary people.” Tom Wilkinson, Batman Begins
- “What is the point of all those pushups if you can’t even lift a bloody log?” Michael Kane, Batman Begins.
- “…I’m donating you to a community college.” Robert Downey, Jr., Ironman. (I’ll get the full quote when the DVD comes out.)
- “Yeah…I can fly.” Robert Downey, Jr., Ironman.
- “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” Christian Bale, Batman Begins
- “It is finished.” Liam Niesen as Aslan, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
To Elysia & Back Again 