Growing up, I always wanted to be an astronaut. (I know, big surprise there, right?) It was an obsession of mine for years so much so that my parents scrimped and saved to send me to Space Camp between 5th and 6th grades. But dreams of being an astronaut died rather early for me. First of all, my sight was not the best and at the time, you needed 20/20 vision to fly. Then I also realized I would have to join the military, which was not for me. Dreamed were crushed, people.
My dreams soon morphed into writing and film. I loved science fiction and action movies and I hoped to go to college for film. But film college is expensive and I couldn’t afford it, so I learned to build websites instead. Random I know. But it turned out perfectly for me. I ended up in NYC, young and in the height of the dot com boom. I was able to do that until it was time to pick up writing again.
But secretly, I have had 3 different desires to be something else throughout my life.
An Architect
Funny, right? Where does this come from? I grew up in Michigan, and for some reason, mid-century modern architecture is really popular there. Probably because of Cranbrook. I always loved those buildings, the straight lines, the melding of the inside and outside. I also love watching the process of designing and building homes. I subscribe to This Old House and I have a good knowledge of what it takes to handle plumbing and framing and all that. Do I use this knowledge in any way? Lol. No. Though it did come in handy when we renovated the kitchen and bathroom. Maybe in another life I can be an architect. In the Nogiku Series, Sanaa starts out as a colony dwelling designer. That was my hat tip to architecture.
A farmer or botanist
I love plants and greenery and growing things. Guess what? I have a black thumb. Everything I try to grow dies. My husband is the one that keeps our plants alive. Sigh. I find the future of farming and farming methods extremely fascinating. There’s so much innovation happening here! I went to a college that’s known for agriculture and I wonder how different my life would be now if I had decided to take those classes instead. This is why Mei in the Miso Cozy Mysteries comes from a farming family and Vivian from the Flyght Series also specializes in farming.
An athlete
This is something I’m finally working to achieve in my 40s! But growing up, I was enamored of all the athletes out there. People who ran and swam and biked… they were all amazing in my book. I watched the Summer Olympics every time in awe, wondering about what it took to be that athletic. My favorites are varied. I love watching diving, gymnastics, the marathon, biking… well, let’s face it, I’ll watch just about anything if it’s Olympics related. Now, as a Peloton rider, I finally feel like an athlete! And it’s hard hard work, people. I can only imagine what these Olympic athletes have to do to compete. This is why I made Isa a runner in Summer Haikus and her best friend is an Olympic marathoner. I truly admire long-distance, endurance athletes and I had to include them in my books.
