My Story

It’s no surprise I love to teach, ride, and write. My mother was a Recreational therapist and a school teacher, who also taught at the North Carolina School for The Deaf. I knew the alphabet in sign language before age five and discovered my voracious love for books.

I could live in an ancient library perched high on a cliff above the rolling waves—strolling the aisles of the grandest books—lounging on an ornate chaise diving into the world of my selection.

But my grandfather, Vernon Franklin is to blame for my horse fever. And my grandmother, Minnie Lou taught me the Cherokee way of life; we are all connected. Spirit, nature, and animals. Being on my horse, wind on my back, fresh air in my lungs, is liberating—grounds me and frees my mind of all life’s worries. “It’s the simple things,” Gran said.

Perseverance and drive I inherited from my father’s side—a family of sports buffs. My grandfather, Edward Detz is in the hall of fame for baseball and played for the Brooklyn Bushwick’s. Jackie Robinson, “Pee Wee” Reese, and Gene Hermanski frequently hung out at his local bar in Manhattan. Quite the buzz of the neighborhood back in the day.

I was born with the writing bug, and I still have my prize story I wrote in fourth grade, “Mrs. Taylor.” However, I put the quill, ink, and paper aside for many years to raise my children. Children are my greatest love and inspiration. 

When I’m not teaching, reading, or writing I seek adventure by traveling to different countries. I was an archeologist in another life. I am a farmer and grow hay on my farm in Wales, Michigan, along with tons of flowers, vegetables, and herb gardens. I once had a hay business called “Hay Now,” shipping an array of quality hay to equestrian farms in south Florida. I live with my prodigious family and fur babies on a farm in Wales, Michigan.

“When the last of the colorful leaves fall and the trees whisper with sadness, and I am old and gray, then, I shall return to the white sands squinting against the dying sun living out my days in a seashell house by the sea.”