McKenna

My passion is writing: I write for a living, and I write for pleasure; the difference is that my job requires non-fiction writing, while the writing I do in my spare time is fiction. I have won three seperate awards for three short stories I've written; I hope eventually to turn one of those projects into a novel.

I also dabble in poetry, mostly because words fascinate me. I enjoy the study of linguistics because of this fascination with words, and feel that knowing the etymology of a word, how it's used and understood in different dialects --not to mention the cultural implications of word choice-- all serve to help me improve my craft.

My second passion is traveling. I've had the good fortune to visit many different countries and cultures, all of which I've enjoyed immensely. Perhaps my most favorite place in all the world (that I've seen so far) is Scotland. The Canadian West would come in a close second, especially British Columbia.

To date, I've visited some 10 different countries, including Canada, Scotland, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Spain, Mexico and China. I hope to add to my list in the coming years, but first a return trip to China this coming spring, and Scotland in the fall of 2007.

My husband and I have been Geocachers for years now. Geocaching is a type of treasure hunting one does with a GPS. It's a good way for us to get out and enjoy the world around us. We've been geocaching while on vacation, on the weekends at home, and while we've been camping.

I enjoy outdoor pursuits, including camping and hiking, rafting the Payette River in Idaho, ATVing, backpacking, and most recently, skiing. We just learned to ski last year at Bogus Basin, and we absolutely love it. This year we hope to try snow-shoeing!

I also dabble a bit in altered art (books, mostly) photography, scrapbooking, crochet, cross-stitch, gardening, sewing and playing the piano.