Counterfeits, a Work in Progress

A scarlet fever heart won’t dash Annie’s dreams of chasing headlines. She seizes her opportunity when a beloved grocer goes missing and a passenger turns up dead aboard the local train.

Caught in the undertow of war and influenza, Annie and her classmates suspect a hidden network of enemy agents threatens to undermine the war effort.

As the clues piles up, Annie must choose what she’s willing to risk by exposing the truth.

Meet Ruth

As a military brat, I moved almost every two to three years when my dad had shore duty. As I slipped into the new-kid-at-school routine, books saved me. Clutching my library card stamped with the latest town, I scooped up adventures, biographies, and mysteries. I wielded that card like a superpower. As long as there were books, I had steadfast friends.

A sometime lonely kid, I made up my own stories. On the long, cross-country car trips relocating to new military bases, I bedeviled my parents and sister with tales about my favorite doll. It’s a wonder I didn’t end up abandoned on an interstate somewhere.

Another time I pinched off small sections of my pillow, tying them up with rubber bands. I sketched little character faces on the chunks, named them, and crafted outlandish stories about each. One summer while visiting a favorite aunt, my cousin noticed my lumpy pillow. Waving it in the air, he shouted, “Ruthie’s tied her pillow in knots!”

Before answering the siren call of writing, I followed my destiny into teaching. It all started the summer after third grade. I corralled my sister and some hapless neighbor kids into playing makeshift school. As a bossy soon-to-be fourth grader, armed with an official, recently purchased teacher kit (chalk, slate, ruler, and pointer), I rode herd as teacher, never once relinquishing that pointer. Homemade materials weren’t good enough for my students so I dumpster dived for genuine mimeographed worksheets at the local school. Many years later, I taught reading and language arts at the University of Arizona and mentored student teachers in local school districts.

Presently living in the Arizona desert, when I escape from my keyboard, I can be found hiking, swimming, catching up with family and friends, and traveling. Captivating reads and engrossing film dramas attract me like catnip, while chocolate is my ultimate kryptonite.