Beverly Flanders lives in Shreveport, Louisiana. She was born in Kokomo, Indiana, but spent a nomadic childhood as an Army brat. She has dabbled in various forms of writing since w...view moreBeverly Flanders lives in Shreveport, Louisiana. She was born in Kokomo, Indiana, but spent a nomadic childhood as an Army brat. She has dabbled in various forms of writing since winning a poetry writing contest in junior high school. Her frequent moves and experiences living in different cultures and circumstances have given her plenty of material to develop into stories.She graduated from Ferrum Junior College, Ferrum, Virginia, and attended Indiana University with the career goal of becoming a teacher. Those plans changed when she met her husband at IU, moved to Mansfield, Louisiana (her husband’s hometown), and raised three perfect children. Those children went on to create strong, God-centered homes and six even more perfect grandchildren.Although she never became a paid professional, the opportunities to teach and write followed her. As a parent and an active volunteer in her church and community, she has a steady flow of ideas to work with. She used her writing skills to teach children in Sunday School—she often wrote plays based on familiar Bible stories for her classes to perform. In her community, she was a volunteer tutor in the Literacy Volunteers of America program. Writing short stories and poems was part of her lesson plans. In her family, she had the responsibility of overseeing the care of six relatives with various forms and stages of dementia for sixteen years, so she became a reluctant expert in Elder Care. Two of her short stories are based on the heartbreak of watching loved ones decline as victims of this terrible disease.When her husband died in 2009, she moved to Shreveport to adjust to her new life as a widow. She joined a new church and found a place of service in teaching a delightful group of Senior Adult ladies. A friend encouraged her to rekindle her love of writing by joining ACFW-LA. Her association with other writers and incredible support from family and friends inspired her to write devotionals and six published short stories.Whatever her outlet of expression, God has enabled her to use her writing toolbox in ways she never imagined.view less