Meet Jo Anne

I started life in a small town in Cherokee County, OK, then grew up in yet another small town in SW Louisiana (Cajun country). But I’ve spent most of my adult life in the eclectic Montrose area of Houston, TX.

This makes me a down-home Southern small-town girl, with a considerable amount of big city urban style. Oh, and my Polynesian/Irish mom grew up in Honolulu right across the street from Waikiki Beach. Throw in my Hawaiian influence – and well, yes – I’m a bit of a character myself.

I got most of my higher education at the School of Hard Knocks. I’m an honest soul (sometimes to a fault) and good with numbers. Thanks to hard work and a little luck, I’ve owned and operated a successful bookkeeping business for years out of my 1930s bungalow.

Between tripping over life and dealing with clients and CPAs, I’ve developed a rather well-rounded knowledge of human nature.

I’ve lived and loved and enjoyed a few interesting characters along the way.

With my insatiable appetite for reading, I developed a passion for writing, too. I joined several local writing groups, where I made great supportive friends. I discovered I could create stories with my life experiences that touched readers’ hearts.

I love doing that. If one of my stories helps someone sort through their own difficult life issues, I’m a happy girl.

With those stories, I became a three-time finalist and one time winner of RWA’s Golden Heart Contest. I’ve also won The Maggie Contest, The Linda Howard Award of Excellence, The Emily Contest, and The Golden Pen Contest with various manuscripts.

For a peek at one of those award-winning stories, click this link.

I’ve never been able to resist a fur baby. I currently share my home with a blind black kitty named Pepper, who will be fourteen this year. Here’s she is when she was just a feisty runt. Blind or not, this kid had NO fear!

I’ve also got a black and white sweet girl I called Bandita or Bambina when she was a baby, so she ended up dubbed BB Banker.

And the neighborhood ferals all know they’ll find breakfast and dinner on my back porch.

When I’m not writing or bookkeeping, I enjoy puzzling (all kinds), the theatre, good books, friends and family. I’m pretty good at Scrabble. In fact, some of those friends won’t play with me anymore. What can I say? I can’t resist two-letter words and triple scores.