"A story begins with a disruption to the heroine’s daily life—a major disturbance in the balance of things that throws her off her footing and sets her on her rump."
Alone in a Cabin
I am an author of inspirational fiction who writes about the themes of love, loss, struggle, hope, home, and new beginnings.
I am also a professor in the College of Business at Lipscomb University who teaches students how to get jobs and fans the flames of their career dreams.
In classes, we talk about the importance of knowing your why. As I've explored my own why, I often return to the childhood experience of listening to my parents talk about the people they knew who lived all up and down the winding highway. Like Norman Maclean said in A River Runs Through It, words telling stories lie under the rocks of rivers. They are also buried in Tennessee soil.
My goal as an author is to weave a tapestry of stories connected to a common place—by homesteads and intersecting family lines—over time.
Most of these are in historical settings, but my most recent novel, Alone in a Cabin, takes place in 2016, the year my first book was published.
The year Maggie turned 50 is the year I turned 50, and while a divorce wasn't my kick-start into writing, but there were other events that had me re-evaluating and finally leaning into the calling I had always felt to write.
God knew I needed some business acumen, so He gave me a day job in a college of business where I get to help students refine their career goals and give them practical advice on how to achieve them.
Content I teach includes business writing, presentation, people skills and the job search process. I also teach a Women in Business class, and on occasion have had the chance to teach in Lipscomb's LIFE program in the Tennessee prisons and travel with students internationally.
In 2023, I started a podcast, Gladness & Hunger, which explores the vocational magic of stories and soft skills.