I think I must have been a fairly typical child of the eighties — hand-me-down clothes, awkward haircut, pictures with sloppy joe all over my face. Where I differ somewhat is how much my family moved around. By the time I was twenty-eight, I had moved once for every year of my life; eighteen times with my family and ten out on my own. This probably affected me in ways I can’t begin to fathom, but it solidified my habit of daydreaming.

When I was five, I dreamed of being an artist and a scientist. I wanted to discover new colors. Feel free to laugh, but the Himba tribe of Namibia has no word for blue but hundreds for green.

As a teenager, I dreamed of being a missionary and traveling to remote parts of the globe. In college, I traded majors like baseball cards — photography, travel journalism, interior design. At the end of a long and winding road, I had a BA in Communication with an emphasis in Mass Media and Journalism.

After graduating, I worked in retail for several years. One customer, after a chat about books, asked why I didn’t write one myself. I don’t know what inspired him to suggest that, but I think of him often. At the time, I cheerfully told him I was writing a book.

Blind Spot was that book, but I never managed to get past thirty pages or so.

When COVID began, I had a health crisis. One scary thing was discovered after another, yet none of them was the source of my symptoms. I was forced to quit my job. Eventually, I was prescribed physical therapy, and things started to improve.

It took some time, but I found a new normal. I’m never going to climb Mt. Everest, but I’m back to being fairly typical, and it’s wonderful!

One day, I decided to go back to the early versions of Blind Spot and see if there was something there. Words poured out of me. I remember the shock of looking down and seeing the count in excess of 100 pages for the first time. That joyous exhilaration turned into alarm once I passed the 550 mark. (Fun fact: I cut 70,000 words from the final draft.)

Writing forced me to be honest with myself. Publishing is forcing me to be brave. Sometimes this guided tour through the realms and reaches of my mind leads deep into shadow, but it is my hope that warmth and truth can be found there, too. It has been a beautiful journey for me; I hope it is for you, as well. Thank you for joining me on this adventure!