Singer-Songwriter As an empath, conflict and stress could leave me without words. So much stayed inside. Picking up a guitar changed that. Playing eased the pain and fear, and eventually I found the courage to share my songs onstage. Three chords grew into songs of my own, then performances wherever people would listen. I played my original music around the Southeast and, after moving to Nashville, hosted writers’ nights as well. Hearing what other songwriters had created was a joy. Giving a stage to those who seldom had the chance to be seen or heard was an honor. With fellow writers, I formed S.O.N.G. (Songwriters of Nashville Gather). After the 1998 tornado, the songwriting community came together for a ten-hour benefit show, offering time, music, and donations to help our neighbors. For years, that world of acoustic originals and writers’ nights felt like home. Then another voice began asking for her turn.

Cabaret: Time to Shine Cabaret began with an epiphany. At a point in life when I expected to be overlooked, I realized how much power I still held as a woman. After years of being guarded and quiet, the fear of judgment fell away. Compromising my principles had never been an option, but embracing my strength, sensuality, and even a little of my wily side was. Cabaret gave that woman inside me a stage. It was time to shine. My friend Sam and I began writing songs with the feel of old films, jazz clubs, and grand stage shows. When listeners mistook them for classics they already knew, we knew we had found the world we wanted to create. Those songs became a one-woman show, sometimes performed with musicians and sometimes with the instrumental tracks Sam and I made together. Cabaret lets me step out from behind my guitar and meet the audience eye to eye. That playful, personal connection is exhilarating. And yes, I love the bling.

Lifted: An Unexpected Author Lifted grew out of a time when illness had narrowed my world until I could no longer do the things I once could. In a crowded auditorium, a speaker’s words felt meant for me alone. They helped me see that trying to carry the weight alone, even to spare the people I loved, kept me from accepting help and imagining another way forward. After letting go of the burdens I had carried, I heard an inner voice telling me to write a book. I had scarcely read books, let alone pictured myself writing one. Still, I began, and five days later Lifted was finished. When I saw the speaker again, I gave him the book. He hugged me and said he knew I’d be all right. I was flabbergasted when he called me at home to say he’d enjoyed it and invited me to share my story at a future seminar. The book tells the fuller story of that turning point and the life that led me there.