MembroKatyPye

It wasn't until I retired that I put my heart--and backside--into becoming a writer. Elizabeth's Landing, my debut novel, springs from my enthusiasm for children's literature and my experience fighting to save a local creek.

My environmental activism showed me how troubles escalate when people see their interests as divided or different. I graduated from college at age 42 with a degree in natural resources and communications, then ran a California Resource Conservation District for seven years. We helped farmers and ranchers restore and manage lands to bring back native plants, birds, insects, and all sorts of animals.

I volunteer on the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference board of directors, tend the cash register at the Point Cabrillo Light Station Tuesday afternoons, and I'm also honored to sing with the Threshold Choir--a group easing the way, through music, for the sick and dying. I love to draw, make art, and dig into my family's history when I create time. An ex-caterer, I maintain a deep fondness for good food. Just ask Elizabeth's grandma.

Every day, curiosity between my ears, camera in my pocket, my writer husband and I walk in nature. I'm known to talk to local tree frogs, hummingbirds, turkeys, and sometimes coyotes. I'm always delighted, yet never surprised, when they talk back.