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I became an author almost by accident. I was working at the University of Washington as a Director of Student Services when I wanted to leave and open my speaking business. I sat at a business development seminar listening to a speaker who had "made it" and his words of wisdom were, "If you want to succeed in this business you need to become an expert and that means writing a book and getting it published." I said to myself, I can do that.....

I turned my seminar into a book proposal (which is harder to write than the book sometimes!) and sent it to 24 publishers. I got 22 rejections. Only two editors even took my phone call and both said they were passing on my book idea but mentioned they did like one of the proposed chapters...on job interviewing. So back I went and wrote a NEW proposal and that is how 60 Seconds and You're Hired! became a book. It first came out in 1994, and it's been updated + revised a couple times - the latest version hit bookstores last year. This is THE book that got me on Oprah, and it's amazed me how long this book has been helping job hunters ace the interview and land a job.

Most writers of self-help and information books aren't writers when they start out. They are a subject expert. Becoming a writer never crossed my mind. My high school English teacher would assure you that I was an awful speller and not too hot in grammar either. I could tell a good story, communicate ideas, but I still can't dissect the sentence into its grammatical parts. I would never have thought of writing as a career for me

My motivation came from wanting to make a difference and help someone I'd never ever meet. So I wrote all the pages of 60 Seconds and You're Hired on a notepad - that's a yellow lined tablet with an ink pen. In fact, I have written every book except my new one (Over 40 & you're Hired) in longhand and hired a typist to type it into the computer.

Writing is just a part of what I do....it's the tool I use to help people in their efforts to find a job...because helping job hunters is what I love to do most.