Lucinda was born in a hospital overlooking a rice paddy, neither of which exists any longer. Born in the Philippines of military parents, she also lived in Nebraska, Spain, Virginia, Maryland, Utah, South Dakota, Wisconsin and New Mexico. Not a native of any of these places, she confesses to being the quintessential, "girl from nowhere."

She attended the St. Mary's College of Maryland and the University of Maryland from where she graduated with a BA in Criminology. She loved the idea of unraveling the criminal mind with the goal of catching bad guys. She decided to make this her life's mission.

When she graduated from college in 1974, her father told her to "go federal." Prior to 1971, it was illegal for women to carry a firearm in federal service, so there were very few women in federal law enforcement. Even in 1974, managers were reluctant to make those first few female hires, but Lucinda persisted and became the third female special agent hired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Undercover work grabbed her immediately and she was good at it. The undercover work she did in A Hunt for Justice was the result of years of working undercover in various hunting camps and other sting operations cracking wildlife crime.

Throughout her career Lucinda worked hundreds of cases, sometimes with state game and fish agencies, other federal agencies and even foreign governments. For Lucinda, each case held its own excitement and mystery, while benefiting wildlife.

During her career she received recognition from the FBI, the IRS, and was once named one of the "Ten Top Employees" in the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Writing came after retirement in 2004, when Lucinda decided she had a story to tell. In A Hunt for Justice she explains how difficult and dangerous catching wildlife violators can be, and that sometimes it requires a tremendous amount of time, money and effort. She emphasizes that the high value that America places on its wildlife resources requires this kind of dedication. She also believes in the power of women, and how effective they can be in law enforcement and in the work place in general.

Today, Lucinda divides her glorious time between writing, scuba diving, hunting, hiking and camping. She's married to a retired wildlife biologist and they have daughter who is an engineering student at a major university.

Lucinda is a member of the Outdoor Writers of America, Sister's in Crime Albuquerque Chapter "Croak and Dagger," New Mexico Book Association, Southwest Writers, Federal Wildlife Officers Association, and several conservation groups.

TONY HILLERMAN WRITERS CONFERENCE
Focus on Mystery
November 2 – 5, 2006, Albuquerque, NM

Lucinda will be a speaker at the 2006 Tony Hillerman Writers Conference. The title of her topic is "The Language of Liars" and a description of her talk is as follows:

Learn what writers need to know about deceptive dialog and police interrogations. Schroeder, a retired federal agent and true crime writer, will show you how to use body language, pronouns and passive voice to create characters who lie authentically and give your police or PI protagonists the techniques to catch them.

For more information about the conference, please check these web sites:
www.wordharvest.com
www.hillermanconference.com