Born in Oklahoma, I grew up on a farm six miles from the town where I went to school. I expected to marry my high school sweetheart after graduation. That was the way of things in small farming communities back then. My mother, however, had different idea. By the time I realized what she was up to, I was enrolled in college and unpacking my bags at Southwestern State. Thanks to Mom, I met the man of my dreams, and after his graduation, my college guy and I set out to build a life together. In our early years, Dan's job kept us on the move, traveling from the Canadian border to the Gulf, and from the Mississippi to the Rockies. Although I didn't know I wanted to be a writer until I was one, I started packing away memories and experience in a cerebral idea file for future use. Years later, when the opportunity came my way to write a weekly newspaper column, I said to myself, "I can do that." The next week when I saw my work in print, it was love at first sight. I've been writing ever since. That was 1970. I wrote the newspaper column for two and a half years, OJT while learning my craft. Highlights published my first story for children in 1972, and after that, I wrote for newspapers and magazines until I sold my first book in 1985. By this time, our children were grown and married. But, while Dan and I were still adjusting to our empty nest, our son's marriage dissolved and he came home with a four-month-old baby. I thought I was ready to write full time, but God planned for me to take time to help our son and granddaughter while I gained some more life experience.(I recently discovered that this is called a "divine appointment.") During the next few years, I found I could write nonfiction in stolen moments, but storywriting (fiction) would have to wait until I had hours of quiet for thinking and writing. In the next few years I published 20 nonfiction books for the library/educational market and co-authored two memoirs for grown-up readers. After completing my obligations for the last nonfiction contract, I decided to go back to my first love, Christian romance. And so, here I am, surrounded by peace and quiet with lots of time to think and write. My time has come to follow my dream and my calling. I'm claiming the title of storywriter and my first book, THE ROGUE TRUST, is available on Kindle. If you'd like to know more about me, please visit my Website: http://www.deannedurrett.com or my blog, ORDINARY DAYS, http://ordinarydays.deannedurrett.com/