Hover over a picture card to read a random fact. Refresh the page to reshuffle the cards.

Don’t ever buy me jewelry. I worked at a fine jewelry store for five years, so I know what the good stuff is. And I can't afford it. And chances are you can't either. So don't ever buy me jewelry.
I can't spell. Okay, maybe I've figured out how to spell most words, but it was an agonizing process that took all of my 44 years. It doesn't come naturally to me.
I love astronomy. Here's a quick dating tip. If you visit your local astronomy club, the members (mostly men) will knock themselves over to share their scope with you. Great dating material there!
I've been trying to get drunk for years and to no avail. It isn't that I have a high tolerance. I just can't drink fast enough. At best, I catch a slight buzz.
I was my daughter's sole caregiver while she fought a brutal three year battle with cancer. She was diagnosed when she was fifteen and it was the worst three years of our lives. Thankfully, she is fine now.
I'm blind as a bat. Actually bats can probably see better with their sonar than I can without my glasses. You should see me patting around for my glasses in the morning. I literally can't see my nightstand.
The biggest threat to humanity is over-population. I strongly believe family size should be a choice, but I hope more people in the future choose to limit family size to avoid a crises of over-population. We should think beyond our own wants and instead consider what is best for the entire world.
I love soup so much I could eat it for every meal. It's the perfect food, easy to digest and chock full of nutrients. I'm currently teaching myself how to make a wide variety of soups from scratch.
My first car was a bright red Volkswagen bug with dual exhaust and an expose engine cage. It was assembled from two different cars, one for the body and one for the engine, with a lot of Bondo.
I'm very smart, but I'm a sloooowww thinker. Seriously, if my brain were a computer I would have fantastic RAM but a sucky processor.
I'm shocked that anyone cares about my random facts. The very fact that you are reading my random facts amazes me. I'm sure you're far more interesting than I am and I wish I knew your random facts.
I walk around my house barefoot. I used to wear shoes all the time in the house, but now I'm always barefoot.
The thing I am most proud of myself for doing is how well I've raised my daughter. Being a parent is the hardest job in the world and she turned into an awesome human being. I can't take full credit though. Some of that is just her.
I adore colored art glass. My daughter has slowly been building a collection of colored glass for me that includes different stemware, vases, bowls, and paperweights.
Aside from chocolate, I'm not a big fan of candy. I do enjoy black liquorice, caramels, toffees, and that is about it.
I studied architecture for a brief period. Unfortunately, I had to stop this career path because I had to put my daughter in evening daycare to attend classes and she kept falling asleep during her school hours.
Fuel cell technology fascinates me. Yep. I'm a geek. I actually love learning about green energy and passive solar. I hate biofuels with a passion so don't even get me started on that.
I used to walk on train tracks all the time. It was the easiest way to get to the library from my house. Don't try this at home kids.
My dream occupation is to own a coffee shop/bookstore. I'd like to spend my days reading and writing there. It should have hard wood floors, a cozy fireplace, and a few pots of soup simmering for the customers. This may be my retirement.
DePaul University awarded me with several honors and I have no idea what they were. I was busy being a single parent and student so I couldn't spare attention for stuff like that.
I'm rarely wrong. It's true. The secret to rarely being wrong isn't that you know more than other people. The secret is that you know enough to shut your mouth when you aren't sure.
I enjoy dark chocolate. I love it in truffles, and with oranges, almonds, hazelnuts, wine, and almost anything. Dark chocolate covered candied orange rinds? I love it.
Stop Protecting Me! Really! I find laws that restrict me (for my own good) to be incredibly invasive and annoying. I wish do-gooders would mind their own business and leave me the freedom to make mistakes.
I often read historical romance. Some of my first romance books were Rosemary Rogers, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Victoria Holt, and Mary Stewart.
I'm slightly green. I don't use paper, for work or writing, or like, ever. In fact, I'm still using two notebooks I obtained about nine months ago. I don't keep a printer because the ink cartridge dries out between copies.
Atlas Shrugged is one of my favorite books, but I completely disagree with Ayn Rand's philosophy. Why choose between justice and mercy when instead you can deliver justice with a touch of mercy? We should seek balance, not swing from one extreme to another.
I'm extremely socially liberal. I believe all people are equal and we should help each other out in times of need. I also believe the United States is experiencing an imbalance of power between corporations and the people.
I loved Encyclopedia Brown as a child. Some of my other favorites were: Dr. Seuss, The Box Car Kids, Paddington Bear, Laura Ingles, Nancy Drew, The Hobbit, and Watership Down.
As a kid I had awesome arm-wrestling strength. When I was in 5th grade I could out arm-wrestle any kid (boy or girl) in the entire school. When I was in 6th grade the only one who could beat me was my 5th grade brother. I have no idea why I'm still proud of this, but I am.
I'm an independent thinker. While I care very much about the well-being of the crowd, I would never put my brain on a shelf and just follow the thinking of the crowd. I must think things through on my own.
Some authors are snobs. Actually, the large majority of authors are really nice, but a few gems are completely arrogant. I was actually quite shocked. It doesn’t seem like mean people should be allowed to have this job.
I can't sing. No, serious, I can't. I wish I could. But my sister who is in all ways honest with me, tells me I can't. So does every other family member. Despite significant efforts and much denial, I've come to accept reality.
I used to scale the school building as a kid. We would play a game called Nine Lives where we'd scale and circle the whole building without touching the ground. I recall hanging on a drain pipe that had rusty nails and jiggled while 3 stories up . . . Best not to think about it. Don't try this at home!
My dog Xanthos is the best dog in the world. Unfortunately, he's really my daughter's dog and recently moved out with her. I miss him dearly.
I sometimes get into a western romance mood. If you have not read Ellen O'Connell yet, go do that now. Like, now. Well, after you read all my books, then go do that.
When I was young I was terrified that "the hand" was going to strangle me to death. It was a disembodied hand from some horror movie that my siblings and I watched. To avoid death by the hand, I established elaborate theories about whether I should sleep on my top or bottom bunk bed.
I read almost exclusively on my laptop. I had a Nook and it broke three times. Finally, I just started using Kindle Cloud Reader on my laptop and I haven't stopped yet.
I once walked 17 miles in one day. I couldn't do it today, but I do hope I'll be in that kind of shape again in my life.
Bears sometimes come into my back yard. I've never seen one, but my neighbor has a wildlife camera and he has. I'm not afraid of the bears because I figure that I'm just not all that interesting to them.
I've been a fantasy fan for, like, forever. My father was a big fantasy reader and brought home the John Carter of Mars series. I read them all.
I dreamt of being an artist when I was a youngster. I even took a field trip to the Chicago Art Institute to check it out, but the tuition was so expensive and I was completely ignorant about student loans.
I once rode my bike for 32 miles in one day. I used to ride until the path ended. I could have gone further, but I refused to ride on the road. When the bike path ended, I turned around.
I adore scarves and have a large collection. My favorites are sheer linen/gauzy scarves with bright printed patterns.
My Wall of Fame is my favorite part of my website. Seriously, if you want to make me happy, send me a picture of you with one of my books. That will make my day.