Arlene Sachitano: Quilt As Desired

She paused and took a sip of the tea Mavis had set on the table in front of her.

"I've learned something else out of all this.” She paused a moment. “I lived in my last apartment in Oakland for five years. I had a nodding acquaintance with two neighbors, but I realized while I was at Mavis's that no one I knew in Oakland would have taken me in on a moment's notice like she did, or welcome me into an established group like the Loose Threads did. Look at this,” she said, and spread her good arm wide to indicate the feast in front of her. “I don't even know anyone in Oakland who can boil water. You guys made macaroni and cheese and pie from scratch. I know you did it because of Aunt Beth, because I'm her niece, but that's part of it, too. I have a root here, and I need to quit running away from it. I just hope I can repay the love and support you've already given me so freely."

"Oh, honey,” Mavis said, “you already have."

The food hadn't even been dented by the time the Loose Threads left. Mavis cleaned the kitchen while Aiden carried her bag upstairs to Aunt Beth's room.

Mavis hung her damp dishtowel on the oven door handle.

"If you're doing okay, honey, I think I'll go upstairs and put my feet up."

She crossed the kitchen to the staircase and waited as Aiden came down. She patted him on the back as he passed her then ascended the stairs.

Aiden joined Harriet at the table.

"So, you're going to stick around, huh?” A grin creased his tanned face. “Does this mean we can go on a real date?"

Attempted murder, theft, drug rings, battered women, death threats, and more sordid affairs than she could count were the more exciting experiences from Arlene Sachitano's nearly thirty years in the high tech industry.

Prior to writing her first novel, Chip and Die , Zumaya Publications Oct 2003, Arlene wrote the story half of the popular Block of the Month quilting patterns “Seams Like Murder” and “Seams Like Halloween” for Storyquilts.com, Inc. She also has written a scintillating proprietary tome on the subject of the electronics assembly.

April Martinez was born in the Philippines and raised in San Diego, California, daughter to a US Navy chef and a US postal worker, sibling to one younger sister. From as far back as she can remember, she has always doodled and loved art, but her parents never encouraged her to consider it as a career path, suggesting instead that she work for the county. So, she attended the University of California in San Diego, earned a cum laude bachelor's degree in literature/writing and entered the workplace as a regular office worker.

For years, she went from job to job, dissatisfied that she couldn't make use of her creative tendencies, until she started working as an imaging specialist for a big book and magazine publishing house in Irvine and began learning the trade of graphic design. From that point on, she worked as a graphic designer and webmaster at subsequent day jobs while doing freelance art and illustration at night.

In 2003, April discovered the e-publishing industry. She responded to an ad looking for e-book cover artists and was soon in the business of cover art and art direction. Since then, she has created hundreds of book covers, both electronic and print, for several publishing houses, earning awards and recognition in the process. Two years into it, she was able to give up the day job and work from home. April Martinez now lives with her cat in Orange County, California, as a full-time freelance artist/illustrator and graphic designer.