They triumphed over youthful hardships -- hers in Aztec-ruled Mexico and his in rural Spain -- to become a team that changed two continents forever. Without his loyal slave and interpreter Marina, the conquistador Hernan Cortes could not have toppled the empire of Moctezuma II. Without Cortes, Marina would have been crushed by the treachery of her ruthless stepfather. Together, they rebuilt a devastated empire, shaped its Christian destiny, and created their son from a love deeper than a master and a slave are ever supposed to know.
I'm a curious hybrid -- a pan-Celtic mutt with ancestors from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and France. Raised in Salt Lake City with lovable moderate Mormons on my mother's side and lovable agnostic-atheist-Catholics on my father's side. Couldn't afford college until age 25, when a small inheritance from a maiden aunt enabled me to pay baby-sitters while I completed an English major at the University of Utah. My husband moved our family (3 young kids) to Sacramento, CA, where I finished the B.A. and M.A. degrees at California State University, Sacramento. That's getting education the hard way, but worth it!
Another move took the family to the Great Central Valley, where I taught English at Porterville College for 9 years and Bakersfield College 21 years.
Have written and published poetry, humor, professional articles, opinion pieces, five textbooks for developmental college students, and a memoirs of my uncle's POW experiences in Guam and Japan. My love of Shakespeare led me to a fresh interpretation of his work, THE SECRET LOVE STORY IN SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS.
My historical novel, VOICE OF THE VANQUISHED, placed first in the historical fiction category of the Hollywood Book Fest 2007. In 2011, the historical novel MALINALLI OF THE FIFTH SUN earned an Editor's Choice Award and a Rising Star Award from iUniverse.
