Author Description

Post-Dust Bowl Kansas, 1950. Joyce Killion, a 17-year-old piano prodigy, is running from her grandma. But it's not easy to hide from an intrusive tormentor who's constantly invading Joyce's living room, practice time, and personal business. Richard Wood is running too-from his neglectful stepfather, his fear of mediocrity, and his family's poverty. When they both find refuge at Harper's railway station, Richard as an apprentice telegrapher, and Joyce as her father's assistant, they build an unshakable connection. But while the railroad brings them together, their futures tear them apart, and Joyce fears she must choose between the boy she is growing to love and earning the music degree she's always dreamed of. After all, college-bound girls cannot marry transient railway workers. Based on the lives of real people, As Thyself is a fictionalized account of a true love story with a large helping of family drama.