I was raised in the San Gabriel Valley, just east of Los Angeles. I spent most of my youth in Azusa but graduated from Covina High School. (1964) After high school, I joined the Navy, where I met Mark Dennis, the subject of my second book. He introduced me to a nurse, and we were married in 1968.

After the Navy, I earned a B.S. in education from the University of Dayton and a Master of Education from Miami University of Ohio. (1976). I walked into my first classroom in 1971 and out of my last classroom in November 2020. I taught at the junior and high school level, teaching English Language Arts, speech, broadcast journalism and theatre. I taught the cognitive challenged, cognitive gifted and everything in between. I directed more than 50 plays, musicals, and ten high school mock trials. My last ten years were at a juvenile prison where all my students were convicted of everything from homicide to child molestation. I could not stay away from the classroom and am now a substitute teacher for a small district close to home.