Good morning, Carolyn. I understand you were a founding member of NTRWA? Thanks for asking. Yes, I am a founding member. Well, I went to the first meeting. Kaye Rose Miller was there and became one of the first officers. I am also a charter member of RWA. I joined in 1981. They organized in December of 1980.

What's your background? How long have you been writing?

I have taught home economics and English in high school and federal prison. In the prison, a coed minimum security one, I taught ironwork, carpentry and painting. Actually, there were experienced teachers who taught the hands-on shop work. I assigned reading and gave tests. I also did research for a mincemeat company in Chicago, and worked as a waitress at Denny's and the Hyatt Hotel in Dallas. In 1990 I decided to go to paralegal school in Dallas and have been working as a paralegal since then. I worked for the EPA for three years and prepared the complaints to sue companies that violated the federal regulations on PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls - in case you wanted to know), which are also found in fluorescent light tubes. If you break one, be careful.

I hate to say I have been writing since 1981, but don't have much published to show for it. I have had profile and travel articles published in newspapers and magazines as well as my book, There IS Life After Lettuce. I have been program chairman, secretary, hospitality chairman and president of NTRWA.

What do you write?

I write mostly contemporary romantic suspense. I have written a time travel set in 1812 on Mackinac Island and one straight romance (that's the one under the proverbial bed). I have also written proposals for a sequel to There IS Life After Lettuce (with my two co-authors, but I wrote most of it) and a proposal for a low carb cook book. 

How do you think you have grown as a writer? 

People at the DFW Writer's Workshop (a large critique group where we read out loud) who have returned after a few years say I have gotten better. I now know how to sneak in scenery description while something is happening and how to stay in a viewpoint and show what other characters are thinking by what they do, say, or by their expressions. I have learned how to fast forward from the house to driving away without walking out the door, turning the house key, stepping into the car and turning on the ignition, etc. If I skip too many steps my critiquers comment on it and I fix it.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

See myself in five years with one novel sold, maybe a cookbook as well, and hopefully a contract for a second novel. Hope to be working part time or retired by then.

What do you struggle with in your writing?

 I struggle with rejection - have over 20.

What keeps you going?

I keep writing because it doesn't feel right if I don't. I have spent a lot of time on writing and don't want to quit after all I've done. Besides I'd rather do that than housework. At times I think I have learned all I need to know, but I keep getting rejected.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I'm proud of my cookbook and my well-adjusted kids.