IN THE KNOW

Do you remember when you first became a writer and you were told, “Write what you know.” 

At the time I thought, “Oh no, I’ll put my readers to sleep.” Trust me, my life is not that exciting.
But, many moons later, I get it.

For one thing, most of my books are set—at least initially—in the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, the Portland-Vancouver Metro area. Because that’s the life I know and love.

I know how long it takes to drive to the mountains—90 minutes North or East, depending on which mountain you want to visit, the beach—90 minutes West. I know the sports teams, school teams, and the eclectic vibe that is synonymous with the area. I know that we’re a water-bred community—whether it’s the kind that falls from the sky in 80 different variations of what others call rain, or the two rivers that flow through and between our cities like arteries to the very heart of it all.

Most of my characters have a piece—or two—of me embedded within. Bix has my sarcasm although I have to admit, he’s more adept at it than I was at his age. Analise is a dreamer, Annie is the loyal sister, and Trinity—one of the nobodies—is the compulsive reading escape artist who is afraid to speak aloud. 

And when I don’t know something, I do the research. I can now hold an intelligent conversation about climate change due to the research I did to find out if an Ice Age was a viable possibility to build a book around. I’m also a quasi-expert on life in the middle ages, witness protection, and paintball.

I think the best authors explore the unknown because they are intrigued and if we're intrigued, hopefully we can pass that along to our readers.