Hello!
Once I began researching history, I realized that technologies change but people never do. It's fascinating to see how people react in long-ago settings, given the challenges and boundaries they're up against. I'd love for readers to see that the character struggles in these stories, regardless of epoch, are actually no different from our own.
​
Journalistic nonfiction is rewarding but fiction is where my heart truly lies. I'm already at work on my next novel, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast (with elements of fantasy and a plot twist!) set in the early Middle Ages.​
My Story
Mountain gal. Oldster chick. Greyhound adopter. More alpine than desert or tropical. Former beekeeper and shamanic practitioner (those two not necessarily related). Spiritual seeker. Passionate about native plants and rewilding landscapes.
Secret dream: Adopt and train a wild mustang
Best adventures so far: Viewing a total eclipse of the sun, touching a gray whale and her calf in the Pacific, being face-to-face with a bear in Glacier National Park...honestly, too many to list
Bucket list: See the northern lights and polar bears
Most apt song line: "Look what I had to overcome in my last lifetime/I think I'll write a book!" Galileo, Indigo Girls
Most underrated writer: John Galsworthy
Favorite quote for my life: "Our fears are like dragons, guarding our deepest treasures." Rainier Maria Rilke
Secret pleasure: Heirloom roses and rose potpourri
Favorite century: The 19th, when Western civilization finally got a social conscience
Favorite bedtime reading: History, especially the Roman Empire, early Middle Ages, and the 19th-20th century through WWII
Not in this lifetime, alas: Riding in the Mongol Derby
Most surprising thing about me: I curse like a sailor in private
And my CV...
-
Graduated with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with emphasis on English Literature, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
-
Postgraduate work in English Literature (achieving the time-honored "all but thesis" status toward completing my master's degree), University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
-
Wrote for Colorado Life, Colorado Gardener, Wild Bird Center News, The Warbler, and Ensorcel.
-
Completed writing courses through Lighthouse Writers in Denver, CO USA, in classes rigorous enough to be MFA-level.