In high school I composed my my first romance novella on a manual Remington Rand. Though it masqueraded as a sheaf of orange paper and the cover art consisted of magazine cutouts,it earned its place on a shelf in the school library. I was thrilled that my manuscript grew dogeared from reader popularity.

On the fast track of college, my penchant for writing deferred to churning out term papers on my Smith-Corona Electric. Throughout a rewarding teaching career, I dedicated my craft to drafting curriculum and teaching proficiency in creative writing to my third graders.

Retiring after twenty-nine years of rewarding service, I drifted in a Harbor of Domesticity, content to cook, clean, organize, redecorate, and sew. Undergoing a midlife renaissance, and restless to find my own niche, I revived my dormant writing talent to compose fiction that taps into significant issues impacting the lives of women. Fed up with reading articles about middle-aged women of financial means who had the independence to scale mountains, sky dive, kickbox, or seek mysticism in Tibet, I looked around. The women in my circle have obligations or commitments to put their kids through college or care for aging parents. Many of us have quirks, inhibitions, anxieties, and fears prohibiting us from jumping outside the box, but rather scrabbling up the sides to peer over the edges. That's when Carla Matteo stepped into my field of vision and the seeds for UNDERLYING NOTES were sown.