My first trip to the library could have been my last.

Outside, the day was warm and sunny, but inside the small, single room library, it was dark and cool. Two timeworn women sat behind the checkout desk, perched atop wooden stools like vultures. If there had been a third grey lady, and I had been acquainted with the stories of ancient Greece, I might have imagined them the Moirai, or Fates. Looking back on it now, I think they may have been, because, despite the ominous looks they lavished upon my boisterous, three-year-old form, I became enchanted with the treasures I went home with.

That little library was destined to become a haven of endless wonders for me, a portal through which I could travel to lands of mystery and adventure, where I could tread Emily Bronte’s windswept, barren moors or the sunny beaches of the Bahamas without leaving the rural Idaho town where I grew up. Somewhere along the way, I learned a fundamental truth, that there is more in books than stories, that they encapsulate the best and worst of us, that they connect us to those who came before us, and that they introduce and reintroduce us to ourselves. Books are brave, bold, sometimes belligerent, and often beautiful… and I believe in their incandescent and persuasive power.

I began writing “Under the Burning Moon” after my daughter was born, in a time when I felt awed and a little overwhelmed by the responsibility of first-time parenthood. Writing has helped me express the everyday frustrations of work and home life in a positive and creative way. Now the characters have a life of their own too, and I feel I owe it to them to continue telling their stories.

In addition to spending time with my family, reading, and writing, I enjoy playing the flute and piano, travelling, and doing other awesome and slightly bizarre things… like, as an adult female, learning to play Magic: The Gathering, or collecting adorable hats I rarely have an opportunity to wear without seeming like a crazy person.