I thought it would be good to give you a little insight as to why and how I started this non-traditional path to the world of the writer. I’m a child of the 70s, when women were being told you could do it all (false indoctrination by the way). I loved learning and tended to over achieve, archiving a collection of college degrees over the years. Academically I first trained as an engineer, bachelors and master degrees (not too many of us girls in the field back then). I expanded my degree portfolio to include a masters and doctorate in business as well (so yes, I am Dr. Veronica :)).
I started my career in the late 70’s–early 80s, when great technical advancements in the computing and software industries were on the drawing boards. I was a co-op student at NASA just before the launch of the first space shuttle. We didn’t have PCs, tablets, iPhones, cell phones (except for those big brick monstrosities that looked like you were in fact talking into a brick)–these mundane technologies of today were just glints in peoples eyes back then. Gates and Jobs were still in high school. When I hear the word Starwars, I immediately think of the technologies we were working on during the Reagan years to theoretically protect the country from the bad guys—lasers shooting objects out of the sky, robots manufacturing and assembling everything, and these things called software and platforms that were going to make our lives so much easier and perfect.
Fast forward, I was privileged to see the world of computers and software emerge, transition, and revolutionize the way we live—personally, professionally, and economically. I was a part of this transformation in the public and private sectors, and I’m glad of it. Being in the technology industry made me used to change, to thrive on it actually, which I think is a good thing. A few years ago, I made the decision to leave the technology industry I had grown up in to pursue another career as I enter into the next phase of my life–retirement not being very appealing to me–not yet anyway. I looked at getting another degree, in another field, but in the end I chose to write, to begin this new chapter of me.
The one constant I had in my life was a voracious love of reading, and was quickly drawn into the world of mysteries and mayhem, with a little horror and sci-fi thrown in. When I didn’t have the latest Trixie Belden, I read the ancient books on my mother’s shelves, including a 1953 edition of World Book encyclopedias. I still remember getting a snack after school, laying down on the dining room rug, and pulling out a volume to skim and read. I admit it may seem strange, but there was no internet back then, these ancient encyclopedias became my glance into the world. Later when I found the worlds of Agatha Christie, Edgar Allen Poe, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, I never stopped my devourment of words.
For my writing path, I have decided to stay in the genre of my first love, mystery and mayhem. I love the cozy path—I don’t want a lot of explicit gore and horror, unfortunately we see too much of this in real life. My love of travel has led me to base my mystery and mayhem series in Britain; in a world of castles, aristocrats and royals, glamour, fashion, food, and a little bit of Hollywood thrown in (I do live in California and we do have an American actress becoming a royal very soon :)) My hope is that my readers take this journey with me, living and exploring a world that not many of us get to experience in real life. I hope you choose to join me.
Crowns and Kisses,
Veronica
P.S. Gemma does get her love of boots and shoes and all things bling from me (shocker)–I’ll start showing them again in the next post 🙂 #Gemmasboots #Gemmasfaves
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