About Brenda

Born and raised in Arizona, Brenda attended Northern Arizona University with the intention of pursuing a career in biology. When she attended registration and found that a heavy dose of math and other sciences was required, she decided her love of art would be a better direction. But her path was interrupted by marriage and traveling.

Brenda’s travels had only gone as far as California, Nevada, and New Mexico until she married a man doing a stint in the Army. If the Army offered nothing else, she at least had the opportunity to see a good part of the world. And she found she liked moving around. After FDW left the army, their frequent moves continued into civilian life. They’ve counted six states and two countries as home.

While living in Minnesota, she returned to college briefly, taking a creative writing class among others. She was hooked. She found more satisfaction in filling a blank page with words than an empty canvas with color. Knowing nothing about genres, she declared her desire to write “people stories.” Her first attempts turned out to be romance.
 

Eventually, she grew tired of the single-title genre romance. She discovered that love alone doesn’t make the world go-`round, but a good suspense plot with maybe a little murder thrown in sure gives a story a good kickstart. She earned her moniker of award-winning author of romantic suspense.

Not one to quit experimenting, her mind wandered to the cozy mystery genre inspired by her twice-a-year birthday meet-ups with her sister to have chocolate martinis. When they dubbed themselves the Chocolate Martini Sisters, the cozy mystery series was born. But she knew she needed a first-class mystery writer to collaborate. Her friend and mystery writer extraordinaire, Joyce Proell, agreed to partner with her. Together, they’ve created a cozy series with two lively, determined women who pursue their sleuthing passion, providing entertainment and mystery for their readers.

Brenda and FDW have finally landed in the central basin of Arizona with Lake Roosevelt just down the street. They split their time between there and occasional stays in northern Arizona, still gypsies at heart. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While Brenda writes, FDW fishes. When Brenda isn’t writing, she’s making long drives to visit her siblings, mom, son and wife, and granddaughter in other parts of Arizona.