The nuns in my Catholic elementary school always said that each of us has a gift, a reason we were put here on earth. Our job is to discover what that purpose is. Well, I knew early on that I was meant to be a writer. Who else would spend her childhood grinding sparkling rocks into fairy dust and convince her friends it was real? Or daydream her way through elementary school, spend high school reading philosophy and playing the bagpipes, and then head off to Spain during college to live the writer's life?
After four years in Madrid I straggled back home, broke but fluent in Spanish, and discovered that I'd acquired a marketable skill. So instead of writing, I began teaching Spanish. I also married a Coast Guard Officer and followed him around the country as he rescued ships and saved lives.
The years passed. We had two sons. I earned my master's degree and continued teaching, which I really enjoyed. We met interesting people and acquired a quirky dog.
But the desire to write kept lurking in my mind. That was my dream, what I knew I'd been destined to do -- and yet, I had never done it. Then one day I made a decision. If I wanted to become a published author, I had to stop fantasizing about writing and actually do it.
So I began my first book –- and discovered that writing a saleable novel was much harder than I'd dreamed. Fortunately, I inherited a healthy dose of Irish stubbornness, a strong mid-western work ethic and a love of challenges that helped me persevere.
So here I am at last, just as the nuns instructed and right where I hoped I would be –- writing stories about characters struggling along their own paths of self-discovery. I hope you enjoy their journey home.
Odd Facts
Strangest job: Babysitting an aggressive bird one summer when I was in high school.
Favorite music: Berrogüetto, a Spanish Celtic group.
Watch Berrogüetto on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwuC6AljKXE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JJo9BTnOxg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVpiVFd9svY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BH4YEcUyT4&feature=related
Pet: A quirky Chinook dog who fantasizes that she is a wolf and stalks me around the house.
Favorite pastime: Sitting at an outside café in Spain with friends, drinking red wine and eating tapas.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION: Gail is a member of Romance Writers of America, Washington Romance Writers, PAN, PASIC, The Golden Network and Kiss of Death. She is represented by Pam Hopkins of Hopkins Literary Associates.
Articles
Read about Gail in the Plymouth, Michigan Observer and Eccentric.
Read about Gail, Susan Donovan, and Nora Roberts. (And click here for Part Two.)
Click here to read Gail's article "Risky Research -- Going to Extremes," featured in the March 2008 Romance Writers Report.
Click here to read the article about WHERE HE BELONGS from the November issue of Romantic Times BOOKclub Magazine!
Read about Gail in Elegant Living magazine.
Interviews
Interview on HMTV6:
http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/hmtv6/hub_city_highlights/hub-city-highlights-august-part/video_2799f6c2-1bd9-11e4-b0a2-0017a43b2370.html
The Nora Roberts Writing Institute 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrM8yUuDK2s&index=3&list=UU755wP8TWM67R2bHJnUlKIQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E39r03WZ-dw&index=2&list=UU755wP8TWM67R2bHJnUlKIQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLoPFDVP-20&list=UU755wP8TWM67R2bHJnUlKIQ&index=1
The Nora Roberts Writing Institute 2013:
http://www.herald-mail.com/news/hm-authors-at-nora-roberts-writing-institute-help-beginning-writers-get-established-20130803,0,281931.story
USA Today 2013
The Herald-Mail
The Book Resort 2009
Book Talk with J&J 2009
Make Believe Mondays - 2008
Listen to Gail’s recent speech at the Enoch Pratt Central Library in Baltimore, Maryland:
http://www.prattlibrary.org/booksmedia/podcasts/index.aspx?id=82297#
Gail talks about the Nora Roberts Writing Institute:
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