I’m a Midwest writer, teacher, and blogger, teaching workshops on Self-Care for Creative People and How to Create a Writing Practice, and facilitating writing groups. My current work-in-progress is Property Lines, a novel, as well as writing for this blog, The Green Study. I am a US Army veteran who served as a Russian Linguist. I have a BA in Soviet and European Studies and an MFA in Creative Writing. I live in the Twin Cities with my husband and daughter (in between college semesters).

The preceding paragraph was edited to remove all humor, character, wit, or any distinguishing characteristics. The resemblance to the actual person is that of a fun house mirror. I am, at times, a humorless git who will bark out “hot flash” and leave without further explanation. The purpose of this blog is not clear to me anymore, but I keep returning as it provides a comfortable venue to write things that have no other home. Hot flash…

Writer’s Statement

I write to make sense of an overwhelmingly complex world. I believe nuance, circumspection, and context are critical to private and public evolution and enlightenment. In both nonfiction and fiction, I write about community and what this means in a disconnected society. I write out of curiosity about the alchemy that can happen between people when we traverse barriers – through shared experience, acceptance, and recognition of each other’s humanity. Thematically, I write tales of redemption and focus on those small moments of grace found in the most dire circumstances.

In excavating my creative self late in life, I discovered the joy of teaching. This is where I have found a purpose – to encourage the silent to use their words, to amplify those who whisper, to make spaces for those voices, and to remove the stigma of rules that prevent people from expressing themselves. I mentor young writers and I actively seek out writers who need and want a sense of community. Teaching makes me a better writer, but also a better literary citizen and I will continue to grow my practice as a facilitator and teacher, while honing my skills as an essayist, short story writer and novelist.