Q. How long have you been writing?
A. I’ve always been drawn to stories–true and made-up, but I really started appreciating writing in the fourth grade when a teacher recognized that I was dyslexic and told me I should be a writer. She didn’t see my inability to write my thoughts accurately as a problem at all.
I filled plenty of journals with thoughts, ideas, songs, and horrible poetry, but I started professionally publishing in 2011 after I was asked to write about my experiences. I got fan mail from a reader and just kept going.
Q. Is writing your full-time career? Or would you like it to be?
A. I have been a full-time writer since 2015. I am always actively looking for writing work. I don’t like to sit still and have too many ideas assaulting my brain everyday, so I do content writing, technical writing, journalism, and novel writing. Writing has become my life and I love every second of it, even with all the headaches it causes.
Q. Are you on social media and can your readers interact with you?
A. I love writing little tid-bits on social media. I’m a HUGE fan of alt-tech. I’m on Minds.com, Truth Social, Tumblr, Gab, and rejoined Twitter when Elon Musk bought it and turned it into X. I had axed all of my big tech social media when they started censoring conservatives and LOVE free speech sites.
Q. Have any of your books been made into audiobooks? If so, what are the challenges in producing an audio book?
A. My latest title, Reclaiming Femininity: Saving Women’s Traditions & Our Future, came out last fall and it is currently being made into an audiobook. I had originally wanted to narrate it myself but do not have the resources to create my own studio and edit the content yet, so I went through Amazon’s Audible acx.com process to hire a narrator and she is currently working on getting the book recorded.
Q. What is the key theme and/or message in the book?
Like all of my books, Being true to ourselves and being self-sufficient is at the heart of this latest title. Like my Defiance Press book, Homeschooling on a Budget, it points out the mistakes that are being made in the modern mainstream and how we can do better by reconnecting with our natural roles and taking care of ourselves and our loved ones.
Q. Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers?
I’m always working like crazy. I have three unpublished books waiting for the right moment to be released, and my favorite of these upcoming titles is a comedy book about Homebirthing.
All five of my children were born naturally at home and each experience presented great comedic material that has the power to entertain and educate everyone on the importance of maternal bonds.
Q. What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book?
For me it’s finding the right publishing route and saving up enough funding for a good solid marketing campaign. Writing is the easy part. Editing is a little tougher since I am dyslexic, but I have a pretty good crop of editors with me. It’s just getting that finished product out there and making people look at it.
Q. What was the highlight of writing this book?
With all of my nonfiction, I always love knowing that my successes can help others enjoy life even if they deviate from the norm. I’m not the typical mom, homeschooler, or writer, but I still relate to others. I think we all feel that way at times and that’s all part of the human connection.
Q. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
I was obsessed with Born Free (and the sequel and third in the series) by Joy Adamson as a child. Her conversational writing was like talking with a trusted friend, so she’s definitely at the top of my list. I’ve always been a nature nut and biology nerd so books on animals and nature have spilled into my philosophies on healthy living and getting back to basics/tradition.
Q. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
A. I want to do everything (Which is exhausting at times). I love swimming, hiking, ice skating, climbing trees, chasing butterflies, playing sports with my kids, dancing, singing, playing guitar, writing songs with my incredibly talented husband, pretending to know how to draw, playing photographer with my awful phone camera, and eating pineapple on pizza.
I would love to get a pogo stick, and someday aspire to ride a unicycle.
Excerpt from Homeschooling on a Budget
Homeschooling isn’t easy. No educational process should be. Learning is about growth and accepting challenges—molding minds and giving students the ability to not only think for themselves but DO for themselves as well.
I love teaching. When I first started homeschooling, I was terrified. I didn’t know anyone else who was educating their children at home. But I did my homework.
I tested methods and did everything I could to have fun with my children as I taught them, all while our family changed and grew over time. I’m not special. Anyone can do what I’ve done, and I hope you do.
There’s no single way to impart knowledge. Teaching isn’t only successful when “experts” stand before a group of kids and lecture them. Regardless of what the Department of Education, your neighbors, or any number of skeptical family members say, parents can and do give their children the best education possible every day. More and more are doing so as these pages turn.
Whether you have older children who just aren’t doing well in the system, you’ve got young kids who are just starting out, you’re pregnant, or you’re just curious about the possibilities for when you do have kids, homeschooling is a viable option with countless success stories. This book was written by someone who was raised poor—someone who was once homeless (for a brief span). I know what it means to go without, but none of that hindered my ability to learn or teach. Education doesn’t have to be expensive.
