I inherited my love of writing and history from my father. After we watched historical movies together, we investigated the people and events to see what they really looked like and what really happened to them. As a child, I read and wrote poetry and stories. My interest in writing waned during the years of marriage and children until a university job enabled me to write for school publications. The next thing I knew, I had written five novels with time periods ranging from 1812 to current day. Researching one of these about a World War II military nurse, Mattie, inspired me to tell the world about these women in a nonfiction format. This became my first published book and, later, a play.