About joy.the.curious

In 2011, I did something a little crazy. I took a leap of faith, quit my job, and started calling myself a writer. A real one.

I started a blog called joy.the.curious and wrote about a weather-beaten beach house on Longboat Key, Florida. I fell in love with the interactivity of blogging and the back-and-forth feedback I received that allowed me to unravel the mystery of Villa am Meer.

When that story started to come to a close, I wondered what to write about next. I chose to take a look at the 1989 case of Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year-old boy who was abducted at gunpoint while biking home from a convenience story with his friend and younger brother. It was a news story that stopped every Minnesotan in their tracks, and we all prayed for a happy ending. Twenty-one years later, they were still searching.

I wrote about the case for three weeks, then set it aside until I was contacted by the newly named “person of interest” in the case. He asked if I wanted to know his side of the story, so we met and I listened. That meeting set me on a new path that would change my life forever. In 2016, Jacob’s remains would finally be found, in part because of key information I helped uncover that was never fully investigated.

In October 2023, Patty Wetterling (Jacob’s mom and a well-known national advocate for children’s safety) published her memoir with me as co-author. Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope tells our combined story and is available now at booksellers, major retailers, and local libraries.

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