After two decades of traveling the globe, living on four different continents, and backpacking in south America, I finally felt ready to write my first novel. Travel Secrets: Book One – Rio de Janeiro illustrates the transformative power of travel. Travel Secrets’s heroine, New York travel writer Rachel Moore, undergoes a major change in Brazil. Her resolve will be tried in Travel Secret: Book Two – Paris and Bordeaux. See more about the trilogy below.
I’m a self-taught author. I took a couple of courses, read a ton of books, and have enjoyed analyzing what I like and dislike about them. I wrote some short stories and a couple of screenplays. I taught grammar and sentence diagramming. My desire as an author is to illustrate the consequences of our choices and to bring across a serious message in a fun way. I’ve lived in Rio for a few years and some of the situations in book one are inspired by true events.
Other than writing, I homeschool my son and take part in my husband’s history lectures. I work at the farmers’ market selling grass-fed meats. I’ve learned hotel management, worked as a fine-dining waitress and bartender, and took a sommelier course. I love dancing, opera, fine art, and old movies. I once won a Texas-Hold-em tournament. I enjoy snuggling with my rescue dog, wiry-haired Jack Russell Terrier, (Tony) Stark when I read or watch TV.
About Travel Secrets trilogy: Rachel’s dream is to have her own unique women’s magazine someday, a dream she struggles to make a reality. She meets different kinds of men in her travels – from sexy, sultry tour guide Otavio in Rio; to sophisticated, seductive playboy Maxime in Bordeaux; to her scintillating, successful boss Ryan Brooks – and she strives to balance her desire for them with her resolve to stay on course with her career. Her girlfriends, sarcastic, funny, tech-expert, Jess and feminist, worrier, travel writer Ashley, support her at every turn. The variety of loving, friendly, strong-minded women she meets in Brazil and France – from fearless public defender Maristela, to striking mulatta travel guide Isabel, to tough vintner Alixandrie – warm her heart and inspire her to try to reach greater heights.
Here are some photos of my various transformations in life – from shy wallflower, to popular punk, to confident adult.
Never stop traveling – or reading, and always remember to enjoy yourself!
