When April Knight was nine years old, her teacher asked the class to

write a paper about what they wanted to be when they grew up.  April

wrote, "When I grow up, I want to be Tandaleah, Fire Goddess of the

Volcano..." and she asked the teacher if "goddess" was spelled with

two "D"s.  The teacher as well as the students burst into hysterical

laughter.  The teacher told her that nobody could be a fire goddess

because they didn't exist and what was April's second choice.  April

said she would indeed be a fire goddess, live on a volcano and she was

also going to write and illustrate books when she grew up.  The

teacher told her that was impossible, it took years of college to be a

writer or an illustrator and even then, there was only one chance in a

million she could do it.  April was called "Tandaleah" and taunted and

ridiculed without mercy for the rest of the school year.

When April was thirteen, the first story she ever wrote was published

in a national magazine and she became a published writer. Before she

was eighteen she had sold over fifty short stories.

Her first book, which she also illustrated, became a world wide best

seller. She moved to Hawaii and lived next to the Kilauea volcano, the

most active volcano in the world. She didn't become a goddess, but

three out of four of her childhood dreams had come true.

April is a professional artist and has owned two galleries but

considers herself first and foremost a writer, sometimes writing a

complete novel in two weeks.

She writes in a variety of genre, romance, mystery, humor and

inspirational, but her favorite subject is love, love found and

especially love lost.  The most memorable love stories are about lost

love...after all, who remembers the names of ships that don't sink?

April spent many years working in a mission for the Navaho Indians in

New Mexico where she was given the name, Crying Wind, Niyol

Daachaigii, and later, because of her books about Indians and her

service to the Indian people, the Kiowa Indian tribe adopted her and

named her Hummingbird, Mahnsaw Daynah.

April's favorite past times  are horseback riding and beachcombing and

nothing makes her happier than combining them and galloping along a

beach, all the better if it is a stormy day with the wind howling and

waves crashing.

April currently lives near Seattle and spends her winters in Australia.

She collects antique ink wells and quills.

She just finished writing a mystery, "Nobody Dies in Kansas" and a

romance, "Stars in the Desert."

Courage doesn't roar, courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day

saying, I'll try again tomorrow.                   M. Radmacher