Award-Winning Author, Grace hiked mountains in North Korea, slept under the stars in the Sahara Desert, rode elephants in Thailand, went dogsledding across the Arctic Circle, rode camels through the Gobi Desert, floated in the Dead Sea and ran with the bulls in Spain during her time traveling through 30 countries.
She began her career with the American Red Cross stationed at Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune. She was then sent to Camp Casey, South Korea for a year where she traveled across Asia. In 2006 she successfully completed a four month deployment to Tikrit, Iraq. Following deployment Grace spent just under two years at U.S. Army Garrison, Stuttgart, Germany where she traveled extensively through Europe in her free time.
In 2008 Grace was appointed Associate Director of the USA Freedom Corps at the White House. She was a keynote speaker at events across the country representing the president. She partnered with federal agencies to implement the president's policies and proclamations. She advised foreign leaders on the development and implementation of volunteer procedures and programs. She also edited and provided language and facts for speeches given by the President of the United States and the First Lady of the United States.
When the administration ended Grace became the Strategic Communications Planner for the Military District of Washington. She assisted in media management at events attended by the President of the United States. She acted as a news anchor on footage filmed at the Pentagon to simulate real-world activity during exercises. She managed the live broadcast of ESPN's 'SportsNation' at Ft. Myer, VA for Veterans Day 2011.
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In January 2013 Grace began her career as an undercover officer at the Central Intelligence Agency. Two years later she transferred to the Office of Public Affairs and worked as a Feature Story Writer. Her stories were covered extensively by the press and were trending on social media. Grace became a certified docent of the CIA's private museum where she led tours for high profile distinguished visitors, to include screenwriters, actors, TV hosts, musicians, authors, government officials, and NY Times reporters.
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She is currently working on her next book, Grace Notes, chronicling these adventures.
Award-Winning Author, Marty has traveled to all 50 states and has visited and/or worked in 43 countries, including Iceland, Chile, and Lichtenstein. He has stood amidst the Terra-Cotta Army, climbed the Great Wall of China and declined an invitation to view a public execution in Beijing.
He visited the 5,000 year old ancient pyramid city of Caral, Peru and the Panama Canal. He rode camels and elephants in India where he caught a mysterious illness that nearly killed him, forcing a Boeing 747 to make an emergency landing in Alaska to rush him to the hospital.
He snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, as well as the reefs off Belize, Maui, Santorini, Bermuda and Cancun. He lived on a boat in Alaska’s inside passage, fishing for weeks at a time. He hiked the Grand Canyon, Long’s Peak, the Tetons and Mt. Whitney. He experienced the wonder of the northern lights in Canada.
Marty retired after 40 years with IBM. He and his beautiful wife of over 45 years, Joeline, spent their honeymoon camping up the Pacific coast. They continued the camping tradition as their family grew with frequent jaunts to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, eventually making it a yearly expedition.
Originally from Cincinnati, OH, the couple now calls Charlotte, NC home. Their children have lived all over the world at various times, but all five now live in Charlotte, NC.