My Own Story

Even though I’ve moved around most of my life (I was raised in a military family), San Diego is now home for me. I love the climate, the ocean, the nearby desert and mountains, and, of course, the breathtakingly beautiful sunsets. I enjoy hiking in the Mojave Desert, strolling along the beach at sunset, and observing the wildlife of my beach town neighborhood – feral cats, raccoons, opossums, an occasional coyote, and surfers.

I have been writing since the age of nine, when I wrote a play about Johnny Tremain for my fourth grade class. Since then I have published two books of poetry with Carnegie Mellon University Press (Scenes from the Light Years; Midwinter Transport) and a book of translations with SUNY Press (Poems by Rosalia de Castro). Numerous poems, short stories, and reviews have appeared in nationally recognized literary journals. When I’m not writing children’s stories or poems, I work in our family business and teach business writing seminars for organizations throughout southern California.

My resume is posted here. And here is my Amazon Author’s Page.

I’ve been a waitress, insurance salesperson, library assistant, a special education teacher, and a college professor. For seven years I worked as a substitute teacher in a local school district while we were building our business. The characters and situations in The Lunch Thief were drawn from my observations in the schools where I taught.