Bea has always loved stories and books. Her dad, a former cowboy, had little formal education but was an enthralling storyteller. Born during the great depression and poor, Bea recalls that her family's main entertainment was gathering with neighbors to sing, play music and "tell yarns," or getting together to listen as family members read library books aloud to the family. Very early in her life, Bea was telling stories, too—to siblings and anyone else who would listen. When she was older, she dabbled in writing just for pleasure. In junior high and high school she excelled in English and creative writing, loving the essays her classmates hated to write.
As an adult, when Bea's husband became a pastor, she had ample opportunity to practice and improve her writing skills, writing newspaper articles covering church events, writing and directing Christmas plays, preparing Bible studies and teacher training lessons—and teaching them.
In the 1960's, Bea graduated to short stories and had several published in Sunday school "take-home papers" by Messenger Publishing House. When Bea's ideas began to be too long for short stories, she rather fearfully tackled her first novel, In the House of the Enemy, which was published by Accent Books in 1983.
Happy with her work, Accent proposed she write sequels, which she did.
At present, Bea has three popular series, twelve novels in all, published by Accent Books and/or Son Life Publishing. In addition to
In the House of the Enemy, Bea's novels—which she describes as "suspenseful, romantic mysteries"—include Moonshell, In the Foxes' Lair, Terror in the Night, The Secret of Windthorn, Touch of the Black Widow, Cry on Desert Winds, Deadly Gypsy Blue, Voices from the Mist, Where's Jessie? and Mystery at Natural Bridge. Her last book, Toby’s Baby, is a suspense novel. Thorndike Press has published ten of her novels in large print. Considering Bea's background, it's not surprising that her novels have inspirational themes. Although books are Bea's main writing interest, she has punished nonfiction articles as well.
Bea is also an accomplished puppeteer, with three puppetry books in print titled: You Can Do Christian Puppets, Genesis Comes to Life, and The Adventures of Moses. She lives with her husband, Mark, now a retired minister, and their two dogs and one cat in Willcox, Arizona. Bea enjoys traveling to research settings for her novels, teaching at writing conferences and retreats, and leading an area writers' support group
