Marcia grew up on a family farm and earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from University of Central Oklahoma. She taught thirteen years in public high schools, freelanced for a long list of magazines, and worked as magazine editor and public relations director for The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. For many years, Marcia edited and published ByLine, a national magazine for freelance writers.
Her first novels were mysteries featuring the daughter of a Gypsy mother and a redneck father. Both novels were nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award for suspense fiction, and Song of the Bones won the award. Marcia herself is neither a Gypsy nor a redneck, just a Democrat. A third book in the series is scheduled for publication in 2024.
Marcia also writes literary and women’s fiction. Her latest book, The Spiderling, arose from watching her granddaughters cope with the deployment of their father to Iraq and Afghanistan. Her work-in-progress, still untitled, deals with the long term effects of bullying on both the victim and tormenter.
Marcia belongs to Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and has served on judging panels for the Edgars. She is a past-president and Honorary Life Member of the statewide Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc. She lives in central Oklahoma, where she feeds the birds and dodges tornadoes.
Joshua National Park is home to fascinating plants and rock formations. I visited there while researching for The Spiderling in the Mojave Desert.
