About the author

and finishing it another day was just not an option. I had to devour every detail in one sitting. After that, it was a feast of classic masterpieces such as The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill A Mockingbird, 1984, Of Mice and Men, and so many more. I became addicted to getting lost in another world of wonder and adventure. In my own head I would dream up wild stories, but never really thought it was a career choice for me. After all, I was nowhere near being in the same realm as someone like J.D. Salinger.

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As years went by, I devoured more books, more genres, more experiences that came along with reading. I entered college not totally sure about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. There were only a few things I was passionate about at the time.  I signed up for the basic freshmen courses, not really knowing which direction I was going to go. Then I sat in my public speaking class and, unlike many of my classmates, I absolutely loved it. I thrived speaking in front of others, especially when it was about a topic I was fascinated with. I remember speaking with the professor of that class (I think her name was London) and she said I would make a great broadcast journalist. A switch flipped and I just knew that was what I was meant to be. 

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I was deep into Spanish classes and thought hey, why not combine my love of speaking and Spanish and be the Diane Sawyer of Univision. But then something greater happened. Sports broadcasting. Oh yeah. I was all about being that sideline reporter at the games, getting up close to the action and loving every minute. I felt like I had finally figured out what I was meant to be and happy to finally have a course set. Then life happened.

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And by life I mean a child. Then a second child. Then a move to Texas. I put all of those dreams on the back burner because my new dream was to be the best mom possible for my kids. And if that meant volunteering at every school event and wearing all the hats of a PTO mom, then that was what I was going to do. It was something that I truly loved, and being home for my kids each day was something that both my husband and I really wanted for them. 

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I still read --when I could-- and the desire to tell stories, be they fact or fiction, remained. But my focus was on my kids and giving them everything they needed to be successful and amazing human beings. That was my life's purpose and I was perfectly happy with that. When our surprise baby came along, it was another extreme joy. But after a few years, those stories that had stayed quiet for so long began knocking on my door. 

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I started writing down story ideas in notebooks --an immense collection that I continue to feed to this day-- and put it away for a "maybe one day". Names and characters details would come to me and instead of letting it fade, I'd scribble it across pages. The worlds of these characters started to build until one day, I looked at my beloved notebook to find it full of half stories, complete stories, ideas and story webs for book connections. I thought "well how the heck did that happen?" but still never truly believed it could be a profession. That is, until I fell into this little authors group, Harlots Authors. 

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Melanie Harlow and her amazing group of friends lent advice and lessons to those who were striving to become published authors. I remember submitting something --or possibly commenting with pieces of a story-- and was asked "why have you not published?" When I gave the honest answer of sheer debilitating fear, she said "what's the worst that could possibly happen? Your book doesn't get read but at least you tried." She was so right and so, I told fear to scram and after seventeen years of being a stay at home mom, set about publishing my first novel. 

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My original release was not set as The Pieces Left Behind as there was another story I was fully immersed in. But when some unexplained glitch happened and I lost all of my edits just two and a half months from release date (so thankful for that glitch be it user or device error), I thought that was a sign that it was the end of my journey. After crying for several days, I shook off the dust and decided I wasn't going to just roll over and quit. I reached into my storybox of ideas and found one that was pretty much a complete story. With some updates, additional drama sure to make readers cry ugly tears, I had my first novel ready to publish. 

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Hitting that PUBLISH button was surreal and each day, I still can't believe that this is what I get to do. It is truly a dream come true that I never would've thought possible had it not been for a few phenomenal ladies saying "do it, do it". But most importantly, I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without the support of my husband and kids. 

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Now, I'm just a mom...who loves to write...standing in front of the world...asking them to love her. 

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When I'm not glued to my laptop, you'll find me being the biggest cheerleader for my kids in every venture they set out to try. I can be found grazing at In 'n Out, scarfing down way more double doubles no cheese than is acceptable, and I'll never turn down a deep dive into a big bowl of salsa. As a native New Mexican, I will throw down with anyone who dares to say that the food isn't superior. If I have my headphones in, you can guarantee I'll be listening to 90's rap...or 80's hits...or dance songs from the 2000's...and sometimes some classic country (Dolly is queen)...and modern day queen Nicki...and EDM...and--you know what! Let's just say you never know what you might find on my playlist. I can say it won't be any modern country (sorry y'all). Despite being an adoptee of Texas, I just can't get into the new stuff. But I can get into a jam that will have me dancing around the house and usually embarrassing a kid or two. But I mean, can you really call yourself a mom if you aren't actively trying to embarrass your kids on a daily basis?

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So, that's probably way more than you wanted to know about me but there it is. I hope you enjoy taking a look around, and I thank you for all of the support and love I've received from readers in just these few short months. It is truly overwhelming. 

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I love meeting new readers, so feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions, comments, or read one of my books and you'd now like to yell at me for making you cry. 

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Thanks for stopping by!

Ryan