The best advice I ever heard is: My mother told me this when I was in eighth grade: “The world is made up of somebodies and nobodies. It’s not right, it’s not fair, but that’s just how it is. What you can do to make a difference is to treat everyone like a somebody, whether they are or not.”
My three most recommended books are: What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey. I reread it every few years when I need to restore my faith in humanity. The Hours, by Michael Cunningham. It’s a reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999. I got to meet Cunningham in 2001 when he was the keynote speaker at a writing conference in Amarillo. I picked him up at the airport and was his driver for the weekend. It was a life-changing experience and I keep The Hours on my desk for inspiration. And my own book, Pennies from Burger Heaven. Years ago, I heard a voice in my head while at Llano Cemetery. (Don’t worry, writers hear voices all the time—it’s our magic.) Pennies tells the story about a 12-year-old homeless girl who “lives” at the cemetery, then wakes up one morning to find her mama is missing. She must brave the big, bad world alone to discover what happened that fateful night. It’s very much adult fiction, and I love hearing how my book has impacted readers. Pennies also sits on my desk for inspiration.
To me, success means: freedom to do what lights me up. Freedom of time, choices and resources.
People who know me might be surprised that I: am deeply introverted. I love being with people and connecting with others, but then I need quiet and solitude on the daily. I’m like a rechargeable flashlight. I shine bright, then grow dim and need to go recharge alone.
My biggest pet peeve is: closed-minded people.
Everyone in Amarillo needs to experience: El Bracero (2116 S. Grand St.). There are several different locations in town, but the one on Grand is my favorite. Great food, wonderful owners. Chips and guacamole make my heart happy.
If I could change any one local thing it would be: Fix. The. Roads.
This city is amazing at: giving. Amarillo is a very generous community.
My favorite place in Amarillo is: every library in the city. That may sound cheesy, but books are our best friends. They inform, educate and entertain. Stories allow us to travel the world and experience countless different lives. Books show us how we’re so much more alike than different. I love the smell of libraries, seeing the rows and rows of books. Libraries are the best and they are FREE!
A local organization I love right now: Leadership Amarillo & Canyon, specifically because of its youth program, Teen Leadership Amarillo & Canyon. I was the nonprofit’s executive director from 1996 to 2002. Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart and I created Teen LAC in 1997 with high schoolers from every school in the Amarillo and Canyon ISDs, plus home-schooled kids, with West Texas A&M University college coaches serving as mentors. At no cost to the students, Teen LAC empowers them to not only be leaders at school and within their personal circles, but also in the wider world. The program is almost 30 years old, and is one of my greatest professional joys.
