After nearly 20 years crafting technical documentation for enterprise software companies, I closed my laptop on corporate writing. This transition felt both terrifying and exhilarating—like jumping from a perfectly stable airplane with a parachute I’d spent two decades designing but never actually tested.

My technical writing career taught me discipline, clarity, and how to explain complex concepts simply. These skills served as my foundation as I pivoted to fiction writing, where I completed twelve novels and novellas. They ranged from speculative fiction, science fiction, women’s fiction to criminal suspense and inspirational works which explore family dynamics through multiple perspectives—something I perfected while creating user documentation for diverse audiences.

The corporate writing world provided stability and structure, but writing fiction offered me creative freedom. Instead of following rigid style guides, I experimented with voice, structure, and perspective. I traded flowcharts for character arcs, user journeys for hero’s journeys.

Looking ahead, I envision a third act: developing self-guided writing workshops. Having navigated both technical precision and creative storytelling, I want to create resources helping writers bridge these worlds. My workshop series will focus on bringing technical clarity to creative writing and creative energy to technical documentation.

This retirement isn’t about stopping—it’s about redirecting skills honed over nearly four decades toward helping others find their voice. The journey from technical writer to novelist to writing coach feels like the perfect narrative arc for someone who has spent a lifetime exploring how words create understanding.