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A recent conversation left me thinking long after it ended.

While speaking with a group of young future leaders, one of the girls walked up to me afterward with a question that caught me completely off guard.

She smiled and asked, "What is wet?"

Not what is water. Not why is something wet. Just... what is wet?

I laughed and admitted that I didn't have a good answer.

We tossed around ideas. Is it the water molecules sitting on the surface? Is "wet" something we actually feel, or is it simply our...

DID YOU KNOW?!

When you purchase 13 Days of Silence: The Murder of Rylee James, along with the rest of my library you’re helping support the Rylee James Memorial Scholarship.

This scholarship assists students pursuing careers in the skilled trades through a welding program with campus locations in:

McKinney, Texas

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Littleton, Colorado

Every book sold helps keep Rylee’s name alive while creating opportunities for others to build a future through education and...

When I wrote 13 Days of Silence: The Murder of Rylee James, I had one simple goal.

I wanted my son’s story to continue being told.

Every book sold, every library copy borrowed, every person who read his name meant that Rylee was still being remembered. That was enough for me.

What I never expected was what happened after people finished the last page.

Book clubs began reaching out.

At first, I thought they simply wanted to discuss the book. Instead, I found myself sitting down with groups of...

Honestly? Not much.

At 52 years old and a self-proclaimed tomboy, pageants were about the last thing I ever imagined myself doing. If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be wearing a crown and sash while talking about books, I would have laughed.

Then I published my first book.

What I quickly learned is that writing the book is only part of the journey. If I wanted people to hear Rylee’s story, I had to learn how to market it. As uncomfortable as it was, I realized that books don’t find...

Five years ago, I was trying to survive one day at a time.

Today, I look at this image and see two books, two very different journeys, and a reminder that life rarely unfolds the way we expect.

When Getting Out of Bed Is the Hardest Part was written for the people carrying invisible burdens, the ones who are fighting battles no one else can see. To have it recognized as a winner in Psychology, Grief & Bereavement is an honor I never anticipated.

13 Days of Silence was written because I...

Today, I found myself staring at a photo of my book on a billboard in Times Square.

Even typing that sentence feels strange.

If you've followed my journey for any length of time, you know this wasn't part of some grand master plan. I didn't set out to become an award-winning author. I certainly didn't set out expecting to see my face in the middle of New York City.

What makes this moment so surreal is knowing where it all began.

When Getting Out of Bed Is the Hardest Part was born during one of...

There comes a point when life stops fitting neatly into categories.

You can be grieving and grateful at the same time.

You can be healing and still hurting.

You can be strong and exhausted.

You can be moving forward while carrying things that never fully leave you.

For a long time, I thought resilience meant surviving the worst thing that ever happened to you.

Now I think it's something different.

I think resilience is learning how to keep living afterward.

Over the years, life has handed me...