What prepared you to write The Age of Promises?

In college, I studied writing and designing and had the good fortune to be selected to lead state and national training programs in subjects related to my novel—child abuse, neglect, juvenile delinquency, law enforcement, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Working with professionals in these demanding fields gave me the insight and knowledge to write The Age of Promises.

The projects used Interactive Multimedia (IM) for delivery, giving me the experience to write realistic dialog, so I wrote most of The Age of Promises in conversational dialog to “show” the story instead of “telling” it through narrative paragraphs. I planned this dialog-rich approach to ease the conversion of my novel into a movie or streaming episodes.

Where did you go to school?  

I planned to graduate from Julliard in dance or become a Rockette, but I didn’t grow lanky enough for a ballerina or tall enough for the line tapping Rockettes. So, I turned to writing and graduated from Texas A&M University with a BA in English, cum laude; The University of West Florida with an MA in instructional design, magna cum laude; and Florida State University with an EdD, summa cum laude, in higher education and instructional design. 

Tell me about your career.

Armed with a bevy of courses in instructional design, I wrote IM programs for the Florida Department of Children and Families. Afterwards, Florida social workers statewide awarded me the distinction of Honorary Intake Counselor, which led to my writing and winning a $10 million Title IV-A grant for training social workers nationwide in Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). As the Principal Investigator and lead writer, I wrote hours of dialog-rich interactive scripts for an IM delivery platform. The first year out, it saved Florida six million dollars, because AFDC learned how to calculate aid for children without overpaying. 

At that point, I decided to change directions and moved to Special Warfare Laboratory. As an IM specialist, I wrote video scripts, managed film crews, and oversaw editing for amazing projects, especially the ones requiring US Government Secret-Level Clearance. 

Based on that work, IBM invited me to conduct IM workshops for their Education and Training employees. This led to my joining IBM and serving as the Global Manager for the IBM Learning Profession, Lead Designer for IBM’s Knowledge Factories, and a member of the Global IBM IT Specialists Certification Board.

What were your favorite projects?

The child abuse and neglect projects will never leave my heart; however, the following live in my mind as the most extraordinary: Cheyenne Mountain Complex (the massive nuclear defensive bunker in Colorado); DEA undercover narcotics operations; NORAD space surveillance network; police high-speed pursuit driving; F16 fighter jet radar warning receiving devices, and the lightweight towed array sonar system used by US Navy ships to detect submarines, surface ships, mines and other underwater objects (as shown in the movie “The Hunt for Red October”). There’s lots more, but I can’t talk about them, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to switch to writing novels. I didn’t want my work to be faceless or secret anymore. 

What else did you do besides writing Interactive Multimedia training programs?

I loved inventing more effective ways to do things and received a US patent for optimizing writing and currently have two more accepted IBM patents, both pending US approval. Better than that, I enjoy writing plays. Following its debut in Hawaii, A Twisted Tale of One Too Many Yesses, IBM groups worldwide translated and reenacted my play, which won me a coveted Global Director’s Award. 

While some professionals hold back their secret tricks and methods for success, I believe in sharing. I’ve given hundreds of industry speeches worldwide at conferences, such as The Society for Applied Learning and Technology, the American Educational Research Association, and groups across America and in England, France, Belgium, India, Japan, Korea, and Canada. For a few years, I also taught classes quarterly at The University of Nebraska. 

Are you ever nervous?

Never. With a smile, I walk to a podium ready to go and am comfortable speaking to an audiences of a thousand or a table of ten. 

What brings you joy?

Writing a novel gives me so much pleasure. I can hardly wait to get to my keyboard and let my brain dance and my fingers fly. As a kid, tap and ballet consumed me. I also loved being a Texas high school cheerleader and still have my megaphone but can’t jump over it like I used to.

Above all, I treasure my family. We celebrate without restraint and enjoy vacations together at the beach, especially Club Med—best times in Bora Bora, Punta Cana, and Martinique. While home base is Destin, Florida, my husband and I spend a few months a year in Dallas, near family. We love surf-fishing at night, reading on the beach, riding the waves, and snorkeling to the second sandbar to visit my dolphins. I’m always up for a good time—that is, if I’m not passionately writing a novel.

A special thanks to my daughter for interviewing me.