Peggy was born at the end of a dirt road called Sugar Tree in Ashe County.

 

She met her future husband, David Stern, when she was fourteen. She was married at the age of seventeen and had her first four children within five years. Later on, she had two more.

 

She likes to tell people that David wanted twelve children, but she will only meet a man half-way - and so agreed to have six.

 

Peggy says her life is like a patchwork quilt. It's made from a rag of almost everything.

 

When asked what she wanted to become as a child, she answers, "I wanted to become a doctor, a lawyer, or a writer. I thought a writer would take less preparation and money. Was I ever wrong."

 

When asked about her writing, Peggy smiles and says, "I'm a natural-born story teller. Therefore, I suppose I'm a natural-born writer, too. Although, for about thirty-eight years, I didn't think so. I thought people that wrote had to have many years of college education and a string of letters after their name, but I learned it was not necessarily true. An author named Terry Kay gave me some advice that has never left my mind. He said, 'All words are the same. It's how you use them that will make the difference.

 

Words are tools used to put images into the reader's mind. With every word I write, I hope I am giving the reader images that will last a life time. I want the reader to see life - the good and the bad of it. To live a bit of history - a bit of mountain heritage that is fading fast. I want the readers to breathe in of the characters in each book and understand their sorrows and pleasures, the hardships and the joys of life. Most of all, I want every reader that buys my books to be able to say, 'That's the best money I've ever spent.' Put each book on a shelf and keep it as though it was a treasured antique."