About Me

Baby sits up in patterned couch, rumpled magazine across her body as she looks down towards the words.
Enjoying words at an early age
Since I first heard my mother read to me, perhaps in utero, but maybe a little later, I was fascinated with stories. My bookshelf was bigger than my toy chest and much better stocked. Books were more than entertainment. The characters were my friends when it was too cold to play outside, or neighborhood gang violence kept me inside. The settings expanded my imagination of what could be. I was soon writing and illustrating my own books, with characters loosely based on my neighbors, siblings and classmates. By age 10 I won my first writing award: Junior Achievement's Book of the Year in my age category.
I loved being read to
I still remember the pride I felt when I passed my book, printed and displayed in the hallway of my school.
With a degree in marketing, I found ways to make writing part of my everyday life by creating dynamic integrated campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. In 2009 I won Campaign of the Year by the American Advertising Federation as the lead writer for a bilingual campaign in the Midwest region. 

My passion for storytelling remained when I led non-profit agencies, securing national media from press releases telling the stories of clients impacted by programs I managed. I wrote for fun as well, winning a 5-Minute Fiction contest with a YA dystopian tale featuring urine in the first sentence.


In 2012 my world was turned upside down when my husband died unexpectedly. I channeled my pain into words, writing blogs and articles about loss, grief, widowhood, and parenting through heartache. It led to my first publication in an anthology about losing your soulmate. While it was not how I envisioned my first book, I love the positive feedback I receive when I share my journey.


Life is too short not to pursue one’s passions, so I threw myself into a Masters in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Armed with my MFA, I continue to write across genres with the same fascination I’ve had since my mom introduced me to the written word.

I am a sought-after speaker, published author, journalist, editor, award-winning copywriter, and educator. I use what I know about words to paint lyrical portraits of the world as I see it and as I wish it were.

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