About
I've done a lot of different things in my life, all of them creative. I've been an illustrator, trophy designer, graphic artist, programmer, multimedia developer, webmaster, and author.
I love science, as well as science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. I'm a rabid Joss Whedon fan, I'm crazy about greyhounds, and I collect moose.
I participate in Renaissance faires throughout the southwest United States, promoting adoption of retired racing greyhounds with Greyhounds of Fairhaven, a non-profit organization I founded several years ago.
I live in Scottsdale, Arizona, with my wonderful husband, a pack of retired racing greyhounds, and an ancient, three-legged demon in a cat suit.
Story Behind The Book
My inspiration for The Silver Cage was twofold. One of my favorite fantasy authors is Katherine Kurtz. Her novels inspired me to try writing books of my own. They also taught me the importance of having a logical magic system in a fantasy story. Rather than just having some intangible force called “magic,” there needs to be a source of the power and some kind of rules that the characters have to follow to use that power. That idea was one of the driving forces behind The Silver Cage.
The other inspiration was my desire to write a modern fairy tale that could be enjoyed by adults whether they were fans of fantasy fiction or not. By ‘fairy tale,’ I don’t mean the traditional, short folk tales written for children. Instead, I use the term as defined by Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien in his essay ‘On Fairy-Stories.’ Tolkien said that fairy tales are not stories about fairies or other fantastic creatures; rather they are about the interaction between humans and such beings.
David Conner, a sensible, modern-day businessman, is the human who interacts with the fantastic creatures of The Silver Cage. He acts as a guide for the reader as he explores the magical world he finds himself in, investigates how and why he ended up there, and uncovers the layers of intrigue that surround the lives of the world’s creatures.