Like my protagonist, I grew up on a dairy farm in north-central Alabama and earned an accounting degree from the University of South Alabama in Mobile. Many of my early experiences of home life I share with Sam.
I also have the same personality profile on the Myers Briggs type indicator - INFJ-A - and the same conflict between my intellectual and emotional selves. Since earning my degree, I have worked for a variety of businesses, small and large, as well as the district attorney’s offices in two counties in Alabama, and now reside once again in North Alabama, near Huntsville, with my husband.
The Gravel Road was my first novel and it began as a memoir, but soon I decided to write a fiction novel instead. Even then, it was tough. Many times I wanted to go back and cut things that I felt were too personal, too revelatory. It took me two full years to get comfortable with that depiction being out there for the world to see. Eventually, I experienced a catharsis.