Born in the Midwest, I traveled west to Arizona, California and lastly Nevada, where I make my home. I've been an educator and writer all my adult life with writing finally winning out in the end. I began writing children's stories and evolved into contemporary romance novels set in the Wild West under the pseudonym Jeanne Harrell. As a lifelong mystery reader, I began writing mysteries as SJ Slagle and my latest book is also historical fiction. My husband and I travel often with those settings sometimes finding their way onto the printed page. We have two grown boys and a western life we are privileged to live.