I really don't consider myself a writer. I take pictures of my adventures and have been doing this since I was 11. Everyone has stories, and I wanted to share mine; however, I tell my stories through my photography. A quote in my book by Charles de Lint: "Our lives are stories, and the stories we have to give each other are the most important. No one has a story too small, and all are of equal stature. We each tell them in different ways, through different mediums—and if we care about each other, we'll take the time to listen."

I'm a street photographer and take pictures for me. I love stories, and most of my early photography is of solitary items, ie a park bench, a tree, or an alley. When I moved to Paris and was wandering around with no destination in mind was when I started 'seeing' the landscape, the architecture, and iconic monuments. It was transformational for me.

Absolutely both! It's like when you meet someone for the first time, and it feels as if you've known them your whole life. Walking the streets of Paris was like that and so fascinating. You've seen the movies and ads and read books galore about Paris and France. You've already accumulated thoughts of what Paris may be like, but it's nothing like you imagined. Everything inspired me: the history, people sitting at a sidewalk cafe drinking their coffee, people selling their wares by the rivers, or seeing an alleyway that you know some of the most famous people in the world, living or dead, have walked through.

Start. Just start. We hear all the time that everyone has a book inside of them. Get yourself a journal or yellow pad and start writing. It doesn't matter your age (we'll not even go there!), just start and write, write, write! But I'm not a writer in the strictest sense of the word. I'm a photographer who loves taking pictures of anything that strikes my fancy and finding nice quotes that work with them. This book didn't start out as a photography book. I'm in Toastmasters and have accumulated some really personal and motivational stories from other Toastmasters. The goal was to put my photography with these stories; however, it just didn't work out. Then, through another toastmaster, I discovered my publisher, Amy M Le, and it was only through her guidance that I was able to get this book together.

There's nothing to 'balance.' I've been blessed to live a life with no parameters. My husband has given me the opportunity through our married life to experience everything I wanted to try. He's supported me every step of the way.

Live my Life! I joined Toastmasters in November of 2018 when we moved back to the States after 30 years in Europe. I've met the most amazing people: entrepreneurs and authors of all genres; we have friends that we travel with. I love to travel and have a very long bucket list of places to go and things to do.

Life is so short, it's like one day you go to sleep and the next day you wake up and it's 30 years later. It's impossible to remember every experience, every thing you see or hear. That's why I love photography, it records that moment you were having when shooting that alley way, or bridge, etc...