I grew up in a small farm town in the Salinas Valley of California and moved to San Jose at thirteen. After I graduated from high school, I attended UC Davis, then UC Berkeley where I received my bachelor's degree in Social Welfare. Nine years later I earned a master's degree in Social Work and worked as a social worker for 30 years. Much of my career was spent working with children and families. After retirement, I became a piano teacher and still practice this profession.
I have almost finished writing my memoirs, but Murder at Sequoia Woods is my first published book. One of my hobbies is skiing and this book is set near one of my favorite resorts. Currently I live in Los Gatos, California with my husband, and my three cats.
I started teaching in 1970, and for thirty-two years, I worked full-time in public high schools. I also accepted part-time assignments in community colleges and the teacher-credentialing program at San Jose State University.
In the early days of my career, most of my high school students were immigrants, and there was little information about the Mexican school system. I enrolled at the University of San Francisco, and the result was my doctoral dissertation-- a description of literacy instruction in Mexico. From 1978 to 1998, I continued to visit some of the twenty-six schools used in the study, and at the ten-year mark, I replicated half of the research.
In 1998, I redid the entire study. Over the years, I published many articles, some teaching materials, and a couple of books based on my conclusions. Besides, I gave several speeches. Now that I am retired, I can pursue my real passions: cooking, drinking wine, and writing fiction. Out of this love came Rick Podowski and the Hefty Trio. The five books are filled with descriptions of food and wine.
Since I am a researcher by nature, I was forced to visit the twenty-eight wineries in the books and sample as appropriate (and sometimes I sampled more than what was appropriate!). In each case, I talked to the various people at the wineries and learned some wonderful stories about wine lure. This has been a great experience. I decided to take a break from the Rick Podowski series. My children are in their thirties, and my cats have taken their place.
Thus, I wrote a tribute to my cats and the joy they bring to our lives. My latest project is a cozy co-authored by my wife. It takes place in the Gold Country, and it looks at people who try to escape their problems by moving from the city.
