My stories take place in Southern and Coastal California, Northern New Mexico, and places in between, and feature characters who’ve been called “people so real you could recognize them walking down the street” (Los Angeles Times). The lives of regular women struggling with love, troubled and ornery children, smart dogs and steady horses, everyone trying to find meaning in their lives, love, and turning their lives around. Filled with humor and memorable animals, readers often remark that to read my books is like “going to live inside the story. These are people you think about for the rest of your life.” (Judi Hendricks) I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in a pueblo-style house on the prairie with my husband, two Italian greyhounds, and a chi-weenie named Nellie. For 15 years I taught fiction writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage in Creative Writing and Literary Arts, and helped create their low-residency writing program before retiring in 2018. I can be found on Facebook, chatting about my life, cooking, what I'm reading, and writing as I work on my next novel. I grew up the lucky great-niece of a book aunt, who was also a novelist. My great-aunt Louise Baker, gifted me with books I treasured, and when I was twelve, she took me traveling, introducing me to the larger world where I learned about art, good food, how to dress smartly, and what I should read. She was a continuous story of a woman, and my deepest heartbreak in life is that she died before I published my first novel. As the t shirt says, I love dogs more than people. In my latest book, the dog is sentient and often when all hope seems lost, she points out the way. I feel the same about horses but can’t ride anymore (too old to lift a saddle) and miss it. The printed word has always been the center of my world, providing comfort, new ideas, and even now, is where I go when I want to learn and listen. I didn’t publish my first novel until I was forty, but I was writing for years before that happened. My favorite writers are Alice Hoffman, Jodi Picoult, Gabrielle Zevin, Carol Goodman, the late Jim Harrison, Judi Hendricks, and Patricia Henley. I love to cook. I make jam and pickles. I was once a Dear Abby writer for an Alaskan newspaper. I love research. When my former students publish books, I am so thrilled and grateful.