A creator of tales since I was a child, writing has always been my thing. At age 12, I sold a story to my grandmother for twenty-five cent, and it was a big deal for me. My father’s more practical advice was, “Get a good education and find a real job.”

After retiring from my “real job” as a teacher and eventually, a principal, I started writing a story that would eventually become a novel, The Neon Houses.

Neon was born out of a night of drinking with friends. We observed that, more and more, people were losing interest in reading. We joked that in a couple more decades this country could be holding Reading Night at the Park for citizens who couldn’t read.

I rolled that idea around until it developed into a whole society of have-nots. Once the idea got rolling, images cascaded into The Neon Houses.  (https://buff.ly/2InChEu)

Currently, I’m kicking around Neon 2, and I’ll keep you updated on its progress here. I’ll also share some stories and recipes that come out of my life and my kitchen in a small suburban town about 30 miles outside of Chicago. There, and here, I’ll cook, garden, blog, and support my writing community.