AUTHOR LESLIE GOULD

I live in Portland, Oregon with my husband, Peter, and our four children.

I began writing short fiction out of creative desperation when Peter was deployed to Germany with his Army Reserve medical unit during the first Gulf War.

Since high school, I'd wanted to write fiction and frequently jotted down character sketches, scenes, and unfinished stories, but I was afraid to truly try. If I failed, what would I have to dream about? When Peter was deployed, I became the single parent of a toddler and an infant. The overwhelming responsibility (and the need for a weekly escape!) inspired me to take a risk and sign up for a fiction writing class.

Acknowledgements along the way kept me writing--encouragement from teachers and writing group members, second place in the Willamette Writer's Fiction Contest, a short story in Virtue Magazine, and a semifinalist placing for a Heekin Novel in Progress Fellowship.

I grew up in the small farming community of Pomeroy, Washington and graduated with a degree in history and communications from Judson Baptist College. My past professional positions include curator of the Swedenburg House Museum in Ashland, Oregon and editor of three Northwest magazines. My own close friendships and friendships I have witnessed inspired me to write my first novel, Garden of Dreams. My second novel, Beyond the Blue, was inspired by the adoption of our youngest daughter in 2001, although it is not her story. My third novel, Scrap Everything, was also inspired by friends and family.

Fiction, by far, is my preferred medium. My ultimate goal in writing is to convey God's love, grace, and beauty. The themes of family and friendship are central to my writing. Fiction allows me to recreate emotions surrounding those relationships and to reveal truths about God and his redemptive work in our lives. Besides writing, I enjoy both teaching fiction and leading discussions about subjects included in my novels. I've presented at Oregon Christian Writers' conferences, Multnomah Bible College, Vietnamese Heritage Camp, book groups and in community settings.

My family and I enjoy soccer, traveling, backpacking, camping with friends and extended family, and laughing at the antics of our parade of pets--toy poodle Max and cats Sam-I-Am and Meo Meo ("Cat Cat" in Vietnamese).