“Hand over the chocolate and no one gets hurt!”

Whenver I'm sitting down - which isn't very often - I feel compelled to be reading something. Anything. Even the back of a cereal box. I've loved books since mom and dad read aloud to me as a little sprout. If I'm not reading, I'm usually writing. My newest title, Guys and Other Near Humans was released last spring by Uncial Press.

I've authored ten books to date, including Akeldama, an historical novel set in 1st century Palestine, and What You Need to Know About Kids (co-authored with my then six-year old son). My byline has appeared in a variety of on-line and print publications. I’m a contributing author to a half dozen or so ezines including Intellectuelle, a blog "for thinking Christian women," and part of the devotional team for Inner Fulfillment. To answer the usual questions...

What are you working on these days?
In between homeschooling, laundry, car pooling and "the Little League season that just won't die," I’m aworking on what may be loosely termed my “memoirs,” which revolve around Mount Rainier National Park. Another collection of short stories, Snuggle Bunny and the Wenzel, features a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the “joys” of camping. I’m nearing completion on an inspiration romane set in modern day Washington. (Of course, a writer claiming a project is “nearly complete” is the rough equivalent of a five year-old claiming it’s “nearly” Christmas... in February.) Besides that, something like 11,972 ideas, characters, dialogue and potential plots are currently orbiting the ‘ole cerebral hard drive. Only the most tenacious will see the light of day. Eventually.

Why do you write?
The simple fact is I can’t NOT write, and so I’m never quite sure how to answer that question. That’s probably because I don’t understand people who DON’T write, or those who regard writing as a particularly heinous form of cruel and unusual punishment. That said, the main reason I write is the same reason Olympic athlete Eric Liddell gave for his running in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire: “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

Favorite Book:
Man! That’s like asking which of your kids is your favorite. Well alright. I confess a great fondness for Margery Williams’ immortal classic, The Velveteen Rabbit. I’m also a big fan of Curious George and the man in the yellow hat (don’t tell anyone).

Most effective remedy for writer’s block:
Long walks with my incurably affable yellow Lab, Eve. Also milk chocolate, dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, German chocolate, chocolate with almonds, white chocolate, hot chocolate…

Do you enjoy writing?
Are you kidding?! I LOVE to write. Except for the small drops of blood I sweat with every syllable, writing comes as easily as breathing.

How do you find time to write?
Are you still kidding?!

When do you get your best ideas?
I have this theory that a writer’s mind—or at least my mind, which is another story altogether, but let’s not go there—is at its creative zenith when it’s at rest. It seems the ‘ole gray matter just churns out ideas with ‘nary an ounce of effort whenever my synapses are flat-lining. This seems to happen most frequently in one of four places: 1) The shower, 2) While driving, 3) During a political campaign, and 4) When trying to argue the nutritional merits of brussel sprouts with a seven year-old. (He always wins.) Ignoring clocks and snoring helps a lot, too.

What frustrates me:
Tepid showers. Dirty dishes. Clean laundry that no one can figure out how to put away. People who don’t return phone calls. Being late. Running out of chocolate. Crowds. Isolation. Monotony. Incessant interruptions when on the cusp of a brilliant stroke of genius. Editors who insist on correcting my fragment sentences. I KNOW they’re fragments. They’re used intentionally. For clarity. Or emphasis.

What delights me:
Anything sold by Hershey’s. Sunshine after rain. Sunshine before rain. Sun any time. Rainbows. Psalms, Romans, Ruth and Philippians. Hikes in the hinterlands. Charles Wesley, Fanny Crosby and Isaac Watts. Libraries. Anything sung by Andrea Bocelli. My family, especially Snuggle Bunny.

Places I’d like to see/visit before I die:
Grand Teton National Park. Vienna and Salzburg. Tuscany. Actually, I’d settle for a corner booth at McDonald’s as long as I’m sharing it with Snuggle Bunny.

Most amazed by:
Grace!!

When not reading or writing, what do you like to do?
That only leaves about twenty minutes a day, ya know. Well alright. When not reading or writing I enjoy hiking, swimming (except for the water part), family camping trips (except for the tent part), hanging out and/or eating pizza with friends, and doing almost anything other than laundry. I also enjoy watching MacEddies with Snuggle Bunny. Does anyone remember those? (What can I say? I’m a sucker for sappy romances.) I also used to jog and play tennis, but encroaching old age and creaky knees cured me of both.

Would you classify yourself as an extrovert or an introvert?
Puh-leeze!

Favorite quotes:“Laughter is not only the best medicine but the best revenge, although being rich and handsome and outliving all your enemies are good ones, too.”
--Patrick F. McManus

“Hand over the chocolate and no one gets hurt!”
-- Yours Truly

Chief writing goal:
To know and reflect His pleasure.

Visit my blogs at: http://www.HEvencense.wordpress.com
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