Hi, and welcome to my website! Although I thoroughly enjoy writing now, in my previous professional career, I taught college mathematics for many years. On the side, I enjoyed the sport of Judo, training seriously in a dojo near the college several evenings each week. While I was preparing to take my black belt test, I suffered a serious injury, tearing both Achilles tendons out of my heel bones. My injury made walking difficult and required surgery followed by a sedentary, two-year recovery. I had to discontinue my teaching position, possibly forever.
While I recovered at home, the upset in my entire life caused me to peer down into the dark valley of depression. To resist going down there, I began to write. That was many years ago, and I haven’t stopped writing yet. Apparently I broke that immutable law that says one can’t jump from being a left-brained analytic to right-brained creative.
Over the ensuing years, writing helped me to heal, and since then my books have helped others too. I hope that every book I write and every speaking presentation I do will entertain and challenge the readers’ and listeners’ faith and draw them all in some way closer to the Lord.
In my non-writing moments, I enjoy drinking coffee with friends, Bible and junk journaling, and researching, writing, and experiencing detailed road trips all over the country.
I eat lots of pretzels too. As the great-great granddaughter of Julius Sturgis, who established America’s first commercial pretzel bakery, I’m often called the Pretzel Girl. Our family has been producing pretzels ever since Julius opened his bakery in 1861, and I do a lot of speaking and writing on behalf of the company, now Tom Sturgis Pretzels. I guess you could say my life has had a lot of twists and turns!
