Dee Gatrell in a Nutshell

Dee Gatrell has been in love with reading and writing stories for as long as she can remember. She and her cousins used to write plays and entertain the neighborhood kids for a penny a show. In high school she and friends wrote the skits for the pep rallies.

Once married with children, she found the only way to stay sane was to write letters to her family and friends pouring her heart out about the boredom of living in various states and raising the kids. She was serious. They thought her letters were a hoot. They weren’t wearing her shoes.

At the age of 38, she decided it was time to go to college. Her first class was creative writing. Her first story was 10 pages about her dog. Barf! She never re-read that story. Her classmates compared her to Erma Bombeck when she wrote family stories.

She graduated from Seminole State College and later from the University of Central Florida with a degree in journalism with an emphasis on public relations. Over the years she wrote for several small newspapers and magazines. While working at the Galion Inquirer in OH, she was tagged as the Obitch Queen. Yep, one of her chores was writing the obits. Her latest WIP is titled The Obitch Queen. Good thing she took notes all those years ago.

After her life as a reporter, her husband’s job once more moved them back to Florida. She applied to  Seminole State College and spent 15 years working as an educational advisor before retiring. Now she returns every registration period to torture herself with the woes of students who sometimes give her good ideas for her novels. Oh yeah, there is a novel in there which she must return to—Death Came to Dinner.

After all the years of writing for the newspaper and magazines, she’s determined to get her behind in gear and sell a novel. 

Dee’s a member of Sisters-in-Crime, the great Guppies where she serves on the Steering Committee as web liaison, RWA and several chapters, and is president of Volusia County Romance Writers.

She and her husband, Larry, live in Florida, with one son and three dogs. They have four children and 11 grandchildren.