By age eight, I had lived in six cities in four states, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, which created in me a wanderlust that exists to this day. We were a Steinbeck dust bowl family shortly after the dust settled, as we made our way through the Southwest to the West Coast. From birth to age four, I lived in Fort Worth, Texas in the US. By age four, two of the saddest moments of my life were over, the death of my father, James Marion Daniels, at 22, and my grandfather at 68. The women in my family had to stand strong, to have careers, and be home-makers. Our lives changed dramatically and forever within a matter of months. In spite of such hardships, I recall my childhood as free and joyous. As a writer, I draw from those memories constantly, extracting the essence of my youthful experience, to find parallels in the lives of children today. My family and friends, pets, homes, schools, vacations, sports, hobbies, first jobs, the books, music, weather, smells, all of the treasured past, fills more space in my heart than I will ever find time to honor in writing. Still, I delight in trying!

Rather than merely dwelling on former times, writers put their nostalgia to work, using their own past sometimes as a filter, sometimes as a lens, to reach the reader. Most writers hope their effort will make the world a more tolerant, enlightened, decent place to live. Like them, I strive to leave the world around me a bit better than I found it, and trust this combination of words and images will help. Otherwise, the trees and flowers I’ve planted will have to suffice!