I started writing books years ago, beginning with novels. Like so many others, I was going to write the Great American Novel. Over time, I ended up in non-fiction, but recently returned to book writing.

This year my fantasy novel Arlyn and the Purloin Bane is being published by Sacred Oaks Publishing, a company I started to self-publish my own work.

I also have non-fiction books in the works:

• Life's Lessons from Land and Sea -- This is a book of essays about the many lessons I've gleaned from nature, starting with coping with and working through fears and phobias, getting up the courage to leave a long-term marriage, and dealing with everyday life annoyances and problems. Nature can teach us much about dealing with life if we take the time to look.Publishing date: April 2007
• Happily Unattached: Discovering Serenity in the Single Life -- I've gotten so tired of the pressure society puts on single people to marry and have a family. Many assume there is a lot of loneliness and unhappiness that goes with being single, but that is often the case with marriages. There is serenity to be had in living the single life. Right now I'm doing the research for this book, starting with marriage history (boy is that ugly), and collecting anecdotes and quotes from singles, and psychology professionals. Publishing date: July 2007

Why self-publishing?

Because I can. Technology has improved so much in the publishing industry that book publishing is easier than it used to be. The software is better, and print-on-demand gets rid of the high cost of up front investment. Also, traditional publishers tend to pay only scant attention to the majority of their books, and authors have to do most of the marketing anyway. I can do what a traditional publisher would do, so why not collect all the profit?

But there is a lot to publishing books. I've enjoyed the process of starting my own business, setting up with the state I'm in, and creating the web site for it. In addition to the writing, the book interior and exterior must be formatted. I'm learning to do both, as I enjoy learning software and doing that sort of thing anyway.

For Arlyn and the Purloin Bane, I hired a cover artist to do the exterior. I am learning to do this as well, but I didn't know what I needed to for this book. Future books will have my photography on the covers, so I can combine my other interests as well.

Arlyn and the Purloin Bane will hit the stores in July. The sequel, Arlyn and the Sisters of Athena (Book II) comes out in the beginning of 2008.