I’ve been a writer since I was young enough to spell, and have been involved with journalism for years, from the Forest High School literary magazine, newspaper, and yearbook to writing and designing newsletters for various corporations that employed me in other positions, including a six year stint as editor of the Florida Trail Footprint, which I grew from a black and white newsletter to a glossy environmental magazine for Florida Trail Association members.

But my first love, of course, is creative writing, and I discovered more than a decade ago that I had a knack for taking nonfiction topics and making them come alive as books. The first book I wrote, Sinkholes, was not the first book of mine that was published: “too narrow a topic,” many publishers said. I started writing books for children, and later progressed to guidebook writing.

With several novels in progress and an idea cache that’s overflowing, I don’t expect to stop writing books anytime soon. It helps to connect with your professional peers in this otherwise solitary profession, so I’ve joined a number of writing associations. For outdoor writing, I’m a member of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association (FOWA). For travel writing, the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). For general nonfiction writing and books, the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). And for children’s writing, the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). They’re all good professional resources that I highly recommend to writers in these genres.