The Unoffical Bio

I was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, the daughter of an Army officer from Oklahoma and a Puerto Rican elementary school teacher. Being an Army brat, I didn't stay in the Bluegrass State long enough to wear a Derby hat or sip the whiskey. By two years old, Edelweiss was my lullaby in Frankfurt, Germany, and so my gypsy life began. My family (me plus two baby brothers, now fully grown and married) moved every ten months to two years until I hit thirteen. Then, by the grace of God, the Army let us take root in Virginia, and I stayed in the Old Dominion for the next fourteen years. So by all accounts, I consider myself a Virginia lady. Nothing is dearer to me than the morning fog creeping over the Shenandoah Mountains, the sweet smell of cherry blossoms along the Potomac, or the lonesome horn of a ship in Norfolk harbor. But being the inherent wanderer, my love of travel and different cultures continues to weigh heavy on my life and writing.

It goes without saying that I've had a lifelong love affair with creative writing. But I've found that just about every published author has a similar tale: "From the time I could write my ABC's, I've been writing little 'books' for my family and friends." And so it was for me. I think I presented my mom with my first "book" when I was in pre-school. It had a cover design (tulips on a lawn, drawn by yours truly) and opened (like a book) to rows of carefully formed words of devotion for my mom and dad that culminated with "I love you." The End.

I've tried to progress from there. Throughout my elementary and high school education, I found ways and reasons to hide out in the library, tipsy on the reading possibilities around, and writing, always writing diaries, essays, fiction stories, school news articles, poems, reviews, whatever! All that eventually led me to Virginia Tech, majoring in journalism and public relations. I was dead-set I'd either be an on-air reporter or a magazine writer. Either way, I was fascinated by people, places and most importantly, stories. But then a little birdie told me that journalists didn't make a dime, and I started to think twice. After all, I had student loans to pay back! So on graduation, I took a job as a public relations coordinator at a chemical company in Richmond, Virginia. It put food on my table but didn't exactly feed the soul. I spent my days doing technical writing and my nights writing fiction. In fact, I wrote a whole novel--gobbledygook, yes, but it showed me what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I sent that first-try novel to a couple agents. One of which was Molly Friedrich. She graciously read my work and emailed me a long, considerate email that nicely said something to the effect of: This is dribble. But I see a spark. So if you really want to be an author, get educated. I'll never be able to thank her enough for her honest advice. And I followed it. To the tee. I applied to an MFA program at Old Dominion University near where my husband (fiance at the time) was in medical school. I was ecstatic to be accepted and nervously quit my job to move to Norfolk, Virginia and join the unpaid, indebted graduate student ranks. I couldn't have been happier. In that program, I met some of the most instrumental people of my life and wrote my first (well, second) true novel, The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico? People asked. Yes, Puerto Rico. Despite my transient childhood, I always felt my "home-home" was the one stable location where I had a majority of family on my mother's side. Growing up, we'd fly to Puerto Rico once or twice a year. My grandparents lived and owned a farm in Aibonito, in the mountainous heart of the island. The farm had seen my grandfather plant beans and corn, my great-grandfather sugarcane, and my great-great grandfather tobacco. Land is as constant as it comes! And unlike my ever-changing military childhood, I could always count on the island, my people and their stories. So it was natural that my first fiction novel be set in that rich, beautiful culture. My grandparents still live on the farm with a majority of my second-cousins, great-titis and tios, etcetera spread from San Juan to Mayaguez.

So how did I end up in Texas? It just so happened that my husband and I graduated from our respective graduate programs (my MFA and his MD) the same year. He was at med school on an Army scholarship and so, off we went to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, for his military residency. He's a bone doctor, an orthopedic surgeon. So I get to hear a lot about fractures and splints and diabetic feet around the dinner table. And despite knowing him for over a decade, I still find him utterly fascinating and the funniest man I've ever met. He sees me through long, dark days of writing for eight hours straight, my hair and teeth un-brushed, my face unwashed, the same stinky clothes for days, and he still calls me beautiful. Don't ask me why? I'm a complete writing troll!

The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico is my first novel. And it never would have found its way to publication had it not been for the wonderful and talented members of the DSM Literary Agency. After graduating with my MFA, I had my novel and a fire in my belly. I was damned determined to get it published. So I compiled a list of agents I found inspirational and legit and started sending out query letters. From the query letters alone, I received a fair number of rejections, but a few graciously asked for pages. I quickly obliged. More rejections followed and the list narrowed to a handful still interested in my book. I kept a spreadsheet of the agents and the dates I mailed my pages to them. As I received rejection letters, I crossed them off. I still get butterflies looking at the list and remembering how nervous I was that strangers were reading my work.

Then I heard from Doris Michaels and Delia Berrigan Fakis at DSM Agency. Apparently their summer intern, Sophia (bless you, bless you, Sophia!), pulled my manuscript from the submissions pile, read it, loved it, and passed it on. They had one suggested idea for a plot change and asked me to rewrite and send it back. So I did, fast and furious -obsessively is probably the correct word. Then I waited and waited and waited. Ever watch tumbleweed spin itself in the same place for hours? Well, I did. I waited and prayed so hard I thought my knuckles would break.

Just after the 2008 New Year, they said they wanted to represent me. There was a lot of screaming and crying and calling of grandparents, my mom and dad, brothers, and so on. I couldn't believe it! An honest-to-goodness miracle from heaven. I was getting published and I had an amazing agent team behind me. Doris and Delia are like the Batman and Robin of the literary world. I'm continually astounded by them. Nothing is beyond their agent-editor super powers.

They sent my novel out to some choice publishing houses in New York City. (Hello NYC! I still get goose bumps thinking about it.) And soon after, I received a two-book deal from Shaye Areheart at Shaye Areheart Books/Random House. I tried to sound professional when I got the "Welcome to our publishing family" phone call from Shaye, but the truth is I nearly dropped the phone on the kitchen floor. I was shaking so badly. My hands were slick with sweat. But I was over the moon and even more so when I met my kindred spirit and editor extraordinaire Kate Kennedy. Together we tidied up a few areas of the novel and off to production it went!

So that's my story. Or at least my story to date. And I know all of it is one big blessing, one big gift from God. I wake up every morning and am grateful and eager to move forward on this journey. My second and third books are in the works, and I pray this is just the beginning of many more to follow.