By virtue of living my first 10 years in the quaint city of Elmira, NY, it was inevitable I’d be impressed by its most famous resident: Mark Twain. Frances Petrie, an elegant near-centenarian who lived around the corner of my Grove Street home, had been a childhood playmate of Mark Twain’s daughters. I also remember magical moments standing tiptoe to peer into the interior of Twain’s octagonal study at Elmira College where I attended speech therapy as a pint-sized preschooler.

After my family moved to San Jose, I became an RN, did a stateside tour as an Army nurse, and specialized in NICU and pediatrics. I nonetheless wanted to write, so I returned to San Jose State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. I worked as writer and senior editor for California Nursing Review, a bimonthly statewide magazine for California licensed RNs and later transitioned to a corporate environment as a medical writer at Syntex Laboratories, Inc., in Palo Alto.

I medically retired in the mid-90s because of a spinal cord injury and have since volunteered writing and editing assistance to local health-related non-profits; I currently volunteer for PlaneTree Health Library in Los Gatos. I’m also happy to be part of South Bay Writers’ Directory of Experts for fellow members who may need assistance/details in writing about hospitals and/or nursing environments.

Due to a trifecta of being a military veteran, a journalist, and the sister of a Vietnam War casualty, I authored Internet articles prior to Campaign 2004 regarding the GW Bush AWOL/military record story and blackout of this major news story by American mainstream media; I’ve retained 130 pages of resultant email deluge from readers. “A Veteran Applauds KB Toys” remains available at Common Dreams Newscenter and, “Captain Griswold Educates Peter Jennings on the Bush Military Record,” will be archived as a “Talking Points” document on the national website of Veterans For Peace.

I’m now venturing into fiction writing with short stories and developing a novel in which the story of a northern California family interweaves with the modern era of nursing -- Florence Nightingale to Millennia Year 2000.

Researching the characters and contributions of nurses has and continues to be a joy -- nurses are not only progressive, strong and courageous, they ROCK!