Man-eating bunny.

I was in fourth grade. The first story I can recall writing was about a cute, white bunny who hopped along innocently and then went on psychopathic homicidal rampages, killing innocent humans.

I remember the Teacher's Aide, who'd been working with students on these writing projects, sitting down with me to discuss my story's plot. As I read the story aloud to her, I distinctly remember how her smile faltered, her face blanched as the horror of what I'd written unfolded before her. Though she probably discussed the mechanics of my writing at length, I only remember her asking, "Why did you write this?" My answer? Because it was fun to write. Anyone can write a dumb old story about a cute, white fluffy bunny hopping happily in a meadow of wildflowers. I wanted to write something exciting, vivid and . . . different.

Being only 9, I didn't know that Monty Python had already snatched up the white, fluffy, man-eating bunny idea in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

And so, years later I've learned there are very few original ideas remaining, only original execution and voice.

Bio

Raised in Colorado and Kansas, I’ve spent my life in the small towns and wide-open spaces of the Midwest, living in Texas, Indiana and finally settling with my husband and daughter in Minnesota. I love to write about the sadly neglected “flyover states” because I’m so fond of the prairies, farmland and small towns where I’ve spent my life.

Like many writers, I took pen to paper at a young age and never stopped creating imaginary characters with lives far more fascinating than mine. In between writing sessions, I fumbled through a career of serial job-hopping. I’ve worked so many jobs that my daughter is astonished when I show her my résumé, which I keep on a thick set of scrolls crammed in the back of my bedroom closet.

When it comes to my recent writing history, I must give credit where credit is due: I had absolutely no direction or purpose until I joined the Romance Writers of America and my local Minnesota chapter, Midwest Fiction Writers. Without their guidance, I’d still be scribbling stories on scraps of paper and shoving them into my desk drawer, never again to see the light of day.