About Me

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I started my career working one summer for Mobil Oil, two for Sun Oil, and one school year working for Aminoil in Huntington Beach. I began my professional career  working for Chevron. After 8 years, I started my own company as an independent consultant and that lasted for 15 years. At the urging of a fellow consultant, I became engineering manager and then President of a small oil company called Orchard. I was there for 9 years, and then worked for a small consulting firm called InterAct PMTI for 9 years, where I finally retired. 

I have a BS and MS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Southern California (USC) and an MBA from California Lutheran University. I taught the drilling engineering class at USC for seven years, as well as many other industry classes across the country. Some of my lectures are recorded on the CCCOGP website: https://cccogp.org/videos/ I am also a licensed professional engineer in the state of California.

I've been married to my high school sweetheart for 40 years, and we've raised 4 lovely children, all engineers like their mom and dad. Hoping a few of our five grandkids are engineers too!

I worked with 3 fantastic writers to figure out how to launch my cozy murder mystery novels. I have a wonderful editor who I worked with in the industry while teaching classes in petroleum engineering. I've just added a social media manager to help get the word out!

The first book was launched it June 11 2022. The next one will be out in April 10, 2025. I've already started on Book #4, Fishing for Trouble. Charlie will be drilling in  Kern County for this one!

The first book had good reviews! The second book, Kick of Death, was launched at the LA book festival on the USC campus on April 20, 2024.  The third book also came out in 2024. All three books rated 5 out of 5 stars. Join Charlie in her next drilling adventure, "Fishing for Trouble" in 2025!

If you email questions to me, I'll post them on my Book Review page to share with other readers.