Who Am I?

Okay, I know my first blog post wasn’t what one would expect. What you needed was a post about who I am, what I’m about, and what I do. What you got was a post about my newly acquired bookcases and the books I rescued from The Closet. So now I’ll remedy that; you’ll probably learn more than you want to know. Plus, I'll tell you about my book.

Born in Washington, North Carolina, I grew up 21 miles west in Greenville, home of East Carolina University. I enjoyed my childhood. My mother was smart, gorgeous (I didn’t get her looks), and lots of fun. An enlisted marine in World War II, Daddy included me in his life and taught me how to use a bow and arrow, shoot a .22, and use my right knee. I can still remember him saying, “Sally, God gave you a right knee to defend yourself. Don’t hesitate to shove it where it counts.”

I remember the first day of the ninth grade. Friend Libby Keel ran up to me in the hall and told me about the “new boy” in school. “He’s sooo cute!” she said. “Watch for him in the halls; you can’t miss him.” Libby was right. Ron’s blond hair was combed in the “duck tail” style unheard of in innocent, small Greenville. He wore a leather kidney belt and kept a pack of Marlboro cigarettes rolled in his shirt sleeve. He looked like movie star James Dean. I played hard to get for a year and a half; our first date was in the summer before our junior year. We dated through high school, married two years after graduation, and I worked to put him through N. C. State University. Five years and two adorable sons later, Ron graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, accepted a job with DuPont, and we moved to Wilmington, Delaware. In 1971, we moved to Lynchburg, Virginia. By then our family had expanded to include a precious daughter.

Throughout the 70s our family used the recreational facilities Smith Mountain Lake offered. Ron and I built a house and moved to Smith Mountain Lake in 2000. Our three children all graduated from Virginia Tech, married, and blessed us with a total (so far) of 11 grandchildren. I enjoy spending time with our family and friends, reading, kayaking, traveling, playing bridge, cross-stitching, dancing with Ron, and dreaming up new plots for future books. Chocolate meringue pie and grits swimming in melted butter are my two favorite breakfasts. I love dogs, horses, humming birds, and great blue herons.

I’ve been creating stories from as far back as I can remember, just wasn’t putting them on paper. When I was very young, my doll carriage became a stage coach; my baby dolls were the passengers. I pulled the carriage behind me and galloped—whinnying—through the neighborhood. A couple of years later my silver blue bicycle became my white stallion, and again I whinnied through the neighborhood.

In 1996, while in Lyon, France with husband Ron for a three-month job assignment, I started my first novel. I love mysteries. And I can make a mystery out of almost anything. To date I’ve published one mystery novel, Secrets at Spawning Run, which takes place at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia. In the book, protagonist Aurora Harris returns to her childhood home at Smith Mountain Lake for her mother’s funeral, and is quickly caught up in a web of deceit, theft and murder. With her black Labrador retriever King by her side, Aurora attempts to solve the mystery and save her husband’s life. I’m working on my second and third novels now.