: About Me

I was born in Tucumcari, New Mexico, but moved to Tennessee when I was eight years old. I was raised in the foothills of Appalachia and enjoy a simple quiet rural lifestyle.

I am an art teacher. I began my teaching career in my early forties and have enjoyed watching children develop their creative skills. I received my B.S. in art education from MTSU in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and my M.A. and Ed.S in instructional leadership from Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee.

But my heart has been in writing since I was a child. In elementary school my friends and I had a handwritten magazine called the "Nellie Ann Tribune" after reading Louisa May Alcott's biography.

I was the editor of my high school newspaper and in 1977 won an award for a one act play called "The Babysitter" which sent me to the Southeastern Writer's Conference in St. Simon's Island. A very wonderful writer named Martha Fuentes took me under wing and I actually won first prize at the conference for my play. I must say for a seventeen year-old I was blown away. I communicated with Martha for the next year or two and I went on to write short stories, poetry, skits but aside from some newspaper articles was never published.

When I started college at Motlow State Community College, in Tullahoma,Tennessee, I took a creative writing course and some of my stories and poetry were printed in the school's literary journal The Mosaic.

Perhaps my shining moment was when an anecdote, "Art 101" was bought and published by Reader's Digest in December of 1995. That article later made its way into two books, "Stories for a Family's Heart" and "Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul". How, honored I was to be the same book with my idol Erma Bombeck.

I have been writing on and off now for several years. My friends enjoy my tongue in cheek emails and I have been dubbed the Redneck Erma Bombeck of our community. This summer I published my first book of humorous essays entitled "Gettin' Fired Up: Diary of a Mad Southern Mama".

I love life and my family. My husband Gerald and I have three daughters and two grandsons. We stay busy babysitting,working on pottery and traveling around our beautiful state. We love our church family and worship at the historic Grace Chapel United Methodist Church in beautiful Beersheba Springs, Tennessee.

My passion is ...

My family and anything creative

I know too much about ...

The people in my town

My parents always told me ...

I could be anything and do anything I set my mind to.

My childhood ambition ...

To be a writer

My favorite memory ...

Watching my Grandmother and my Grandson sharing ice cream

Why I write ...

To relieve stress, to entertain, to inform

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

nothing in particular at this moment, I am writing

My first job ...

Shampoo girl at Sain's Beauty Shop, Viola, Tn

My best moment ...

hmmmm. I have had so many

My inspiration ...

Erma Bombeck, my job, my family, my town, my life

Creative Writing > Humor Humor: A trip to the dentist

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It was just an ordinary day. But, my tooth hurt and I needed assistance. The lady on the phone was exceptionally nice, she even had this cute little southern drawl which gave me that down home feeling that everything was going to be fine. "Come on in around 10:45 and we'll see what's going on." Well, I knew what was going on, my tooth hurt like heck and I needed anesthesia or euthanasia either one was acceptable to me. I had never been to this dentist before. I do not go to the dentist. If my teeth don't bother me, I don't bother them-we have an agreement. The tooth behind my eyetooth brok...

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