I keep a postcard by my desk with the above quotation on it.  Writing fiction is standing atop Half Dome for this acrophobic. As a journalist, it has always felt strange to make things up. You can't do that!  But I love to read fiction and wanted to give it a go. It's so much harder than sticking to the facts.  Novelists have to make sure the story feels real enough to keep reading.

I live in San Juan Bautista, California where I write about food and agriculture issues for our local press. I also love to read, run, garden, travel - and think about what mountain to climb next.