About Katrina
5 Fast Facts About Katrina
- I currently write fun and faith-filled middle grade adventures. But I have also interviewed victims of tornadoes, cholera, fire, and war, which are recorded in my other books.
- My husband Marnell and I met January 23, 2016 at a women’s conference! (He was running sound and I was leading a workshop.) We now have a daughter Anina, who “writes” her perspective on life in the Behind the Scenes Tuesday newsletter (see below).
- I have two birthdays, legal and real. When I was born in Goshen, Indiana, Dr. Abel wrote 5-23-1982 on my birth certificate. The date was June 23, but no one noticed his mistake until we went to get my driver’s permit.
- When I was a teenager, I crocheted doilies and sold them at the farmer’s market in Wausau, WI.
- I have touched a beating human heart. See my reflections here!
Let’s run with patience the race before us!
Making Something Inspirational
Courage and Cheer for the Christian Race
I have been creating stories for almost as long as I can remember. Growing up on a Mennonite produce farm, I created brothers Terry, Gary, and Larry, to help pass the time doing chores. I told stories about them to my brother as we weeded strawberries, thinned carrots, or cleaned fresh eggs.
As a teacher in Christian schools for eight years, I loved reading to my students at storytime. In 2008, I left teaching and went to nursing school.
For about a decade, as I worked as a nurse, I wrote books for adults. With a Mennonite publishing house, TGS International, I produced From the White House to the Amish, Blue Christmas, and Captain Garrison. I enjoyed traveling, researching, and interviewing for seven books. I also shared my life as a cardiac nurse and member of an inner-city Anabaptist church on my weekly blog.
Now my husband Marnell and I have a child of our own and I am returning to my own childhood by writing a children’s adventure series, in addition to a weekly blog post and Tuesday newsletter. Marnell and I live in an ethnically diverse urban neighborhood where we seek to join God’s work with our small Anabaptist church.
In 2022, I once again assisted TGS International, by interviewing the hostages kidnapped for 62 days by a Haitian gang. By focusing on this project for several busy months, I wrote the book, Kidnapped in Haiti.
