On my path to becoming an author and educator, I tried many things and learned from all of them.
My BA degree is in studio art and English. After managing a fine art gallery and frame store, I decided to learn a bit more about all the forest plants I was drawing and seeing on hikes. So I enrolled in a biology course. Which led to two years of science courses and then a MS in Ecology and Environmental Science.
That led to a fourteen year career in conservation with the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
For employment, it was a great job. I helped local farmers and land owners protect the environment while growing their business. But I can’t say it was a passion. But it got my family by and did something good for the world. I probably would have continued there, but around 2008 I picked up a LONG displaced desire to write. And that ignited something.
I took writing courses, learned about self publishing, and launched my first fantasy novel on Amazon in 2012. And boy, then I realized how much more I had to learn! Now eight more books and counting, I’ve learned a lot of ropes. Most of them by getting myself tangled in them.
So I began teaching what I knew in the hopes of saving a few other authors the more painful lessons. Which led to realizing I love teaching. And that fourteen years of conservation experience combined with living in a yurt and building an off grid house while helping dozens of young farmers follow their homesteading dreams was another teachable topic.
Now it just keeps building …
