Victoria Emmons — a simple name — yet for 15 years I was plagued by a woman with the same name living in my community. So I wrote about it in my story “The Gray Envelope.” And then I wrote about a few more things. I told my stories in poems, short stories, columns, memoirs, and now a novel-to-be. Before I started writing, I was a student in France, a French teacher in Florida, and a healthcare administrator in N. California. Along the way, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in French at Florida State University and a Masters in Public Administration at University of San Francisco, which just goes to show you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Oh! I am also a mom and a grandma (my favorite role of all). When I retired as CEO of a hospice in California and lost my husband of 23 years, writing became my passion. It keeps me alive. I moved to Montana a few years ago to be near the kids, then they moved to Arizona. It was too late for me. Montana had already stolen my heart. So here I am ... a writer and a Montana woman still following my dreams.