About Me

I grew up in a household with diverse interests and pursuits. My dad was a pro football player, head football coach at Brigham Young University (BYU), teacher and coach for Cabrillo College on the Monterey Bay, and, after earning a Ph.D., eventually became the chairman of Research and Development for Rawlings Sporting Goods. My mother graduated from Pepperdine University with a double major in Education and English. So my sister and five brothers and I knew both how to hold a football for a decent spiral and how to describe it in proper English.

Growing up mostly on the coast of California, I learned to love the ocean. My Dad built a small fishing boat named “The Hunky Dory” that was moored at Moss Landing. A fishing trip early on a Saturday morning, meant spending the afternoon scaling and cleaning the catch. It was worth it.

My family lived on a one-acre lot in the middle of a commercial apple orchard. I remember that the thirty or so trees on our land produced the sweetest, crispest, most delectable apples imaginable. In the autumn, I walked through the orchard to the bus stop, eating night-chilled apples as I went. After school, I often curled up with a classic novel like “Little Women” or “The Secret Garden” and more apples.

Twice a family friend that worked for Nestle’ Chocolate Company gave my family a truckload of chocolate products from a truck-trailer that had overheated. My dad was Bishop of the local Latter-Day Saint (LDS) congregation, and he agreed to distribute it with the understanding that nobody would sell it. Our garage was stacked to the rafters with chocolate, and the Mitchells quickly became the most popular family in the county.

After moving to Missouri before my junior year in high school, I won “Best Actress” award for a competition between ten shows put on by LDS congregations in the St. Louis area.

I graduated from Rolla High School and was married to my husband Jeff after my freshman year at BYU. I finished my Bachelor’s degree in English and American literature at BYU through a distance-learning program in 2005.

My one daughter and first son were born in Provo ,Utah. My next three sons were born in Central and Southern California. My two youngest sons were born in Black Forest, Colorado. I acted as general contractor for our country home on 5 acres of pines and meadows where we lived in Colorado for 12 years. In 2006 we moved to beautiful Edmond, Oklahoma.

I have had poetry and prose published in The Ensign and The Friend magazines, and from 2007 to 2009, I wrote two columns for the Edmond Sun newspaper. My first novel “The Angel’s Song” was first published in 2002 and rewritten and republished in November, 2009. A second novel, “Rasmus: Tales of a Utah Cowboy,” was published by Shoppe Foreman Publishing in April, 2010. I am now searching for a publisher for my third novel, “That Thy Days May Be Long,” and fourth novel, “The Masterpiece."

I also enjoy gardening, the homemaking arts, reading, writing, sports, travel, and public speaking.