the making of an author

My official bio says that I'm a bestselling author, that's absolutely true. But the more important truth (to me) is that I'm living my dream life--the life I've envisioned since ... always. 

I was absolutely that precocious child, who as an avid-reader thought that being an author was a "sure thing" when I was a grown-up. Ha. Real life kicked in hard, or what I thought was real life.

I went to college at the amazing Santa Clara University, got a political science degree, and strongly contemplated law school courtesy of a beloved professor's suggestion. But it didn't feel quite right, and eventually, I found myself working at T-Mobile as a web and e-commerce marketing manager for much of my twenties.

It was a solid career path, but by age 27 or so I realized that I simply wasn't interested in the 9-5 life. I wanted to be my own boss, and more specifically ... I wanted to tell stories. I wanted to make a living telling stories.

When my husband got a job offer in NYC (we were in our hometown of Seattle at the time), I said, "Sure, I'll relocate....if I can have 3 months to make a go of the writing career before having to get a 'real job'." It took me about 6 months, but I got the agent, I got the book deal.

And I've been writing and selling books ever since! (though, please note, there was plenty of doubt, tears, and book "flops" along the way, even after I got my first, second and third book deal. Fellow writers, please don't get discouraged! Everybody's career timeline is different!