Many have referred to me as a weirdo, a dork, and a nerd. I’ve learned to embrace it. It means I’m creative.
In second grade, I wrote the short story, “Miss Pat’s Salad,” which won the coveted place on the center of our refrigerator door. After three weeks, my younger sister Tricia’s Chartreuse and Tangerine drawing of a cow knocked my story out of the spotlight. Seriously, who could compete with that?
A few weeks later, I upended the Crayola cow with my short story, “The Card Family.” It was on. She won many more times. Deservedly so, she had colored between the lines. My younger brothers, James and Jefrey, added their kiddy crafts of Thanksgiving hand turkeys and macaroni art to the mix and the competition became fierce.
With a few fridge awards under my belt, I expanded my genius to writing, directing, and producing our basement plays with my siblings. The most talked about play in the neighborhood was The Bionic Family starring our shaggy mutt, Arfie, as the bionic dog. If YouTube was around back then, we would have been a sensation.
As a tall, gangly, band geek, my creativity took a backseat in junior high and high school. Fitting in and avoiding embarrassment took precedence. Neither worked out, but it gave me cringe-worthy material for later stories.
In college, I met my husband, Kraig, who inspired my world. He encouraged my writing even if it was research term papers. Later, I dabbled and focused on our children. With them grown, I took on the creative writing challenge once more. Using my degree in biology and my diploma in Traditional Chinese acupuncture, I enjoy writing about the physical science, the emotional workings of our mind and heart, and the spiritual energy that taps into our passions.
I hope you enjoy reading Chemical Attraction as much as I enjoyed writing it.