I was born in Buffalo, New York, but I wasn’t there long enough to remember it. My parents moved to San Diego, California, when I was six months old, and I grew up loving the sunny days and the ocean.

While in junior high, I wanted to be many things—a writer, an ornithologist, a doctor. In junior high, I started an underground “newspaper” which I typed and distributed myself, containing stories about my classmates. I also wrote in my spare time, creating my own screenplays for television shows I liked, short stories, and poetry.

In high school, I was selected to participate in a special independent study program where we learned other subjects in addition to the typical curriculum. This fostered my love of many different subjects, but I was most fond of literature and science, and I loved the idea of becoming a doctor.

That goal led me to my first year of college at UC San Diego, but after a year of science coursework, I knew I needed a different path. I transferred to UC Berkeley and, after a short time as a music major, finally settled where I should have been on all along: English and literature. I graduated with a B.A. in English and went on to do graduate work in literature at San Diego State University.

After trying several different careers, including English teacher, American Sign Language interpreter, business manager and head packager for my (then) husband’s sandcast wall sculpture company, gift shop buyer, salesperson, and secretary, I discovered technical writing. I did that happily for a number of years, and added technical training to my repertoire. With the advent of the Macintosh computer, however, I became hooked on designing the pages as well as creating the text, and soon I bought a Mac and started my own writing/editing/desktop publishing business primarily for biotechnology companies. That business thrived for over 20 years until my husband suggested I retire early. I didn’t think twice. I also never really retired.

We moved to Arizona and learned about a sport called “pickleball.” (It’s a terrible name for a terrific sport.) Both of us loved it, and we played as often as possible. After a few months, I was sidelined due to an illness. I decided buy a book and learn more about the sport if I couldn’t get out there and play. I bought the only two books in print, but neither was what I was looking for. I decided I’d gather as much information as possible from the many players I’d met, hoping that might help me learn. Some of the finest players in the nation lived right there, and I began interviewing them. It wasn’t long before I realized I had the start of a book: the book I’d been looking for all along.  The Art of Pickleball was published in November, 2005, and it won the Arizona Book Award for Recreation/Sports in 2007. In 2008, with the first edition nearly sold out, I updated it with corrections and a revised set of rules as a second edition.

But what I really wanted was to write fiction. I was thinking about plots for adult novels when the idea for Bruce and the Road to Courage came to me. I began writing that book in 2006, but because I was busy with other things, and because I really wasn’t sure how to proceed, it took 5 years to complete it. I learned an incredible amount through the writing process and by reading numerous books about writing during that time. When the book was done, I knew I’d found the path I was meant to take all along.

Many who read Bruce and the Road to Courage said they wanted to read more books about him, so I started writing the second book in the series, Bruce and the Road to Honesty, which is due out in April 2012. Completing the trilogy, Bruce and the Road Home should be available before Christmas 2012.

I am fortunate enough to have three sons, all of them grown. I live in Arizona with my husband, Richard, two dogs, and three cats. When I’m not writing, I enjoy singing, playing musical instruments (especially the hammered dulcimer), and reading.

Click here to read an interview with Gale.