My Bio

I grew up in Colorado in a house where every single room had books. Both of my parents read to my sister, my brother, and me. Bedtime stories came from picture books, novels, or even the Book of Knowledge. My sister Karen wrote novels when she was a teen, and read them aloud to me. She inspired me to write my own stories, which sounded suspiciously like hers at first, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

Though I wanted to be a writer, I knew it would be hard at best to make a living writing stories, so I made the infinitely wiser decision to become a history major. History, when told well, is all about stories, so that made some sort of sense, I guess. With a master’s degree in local history in hand, I spent two years as the Assistant Director of the Pipestone County Museum in Pipestone, MN. I did everything from leading tours to collections management and exhibit design, cleaning bathrooms and cataloging archives. Though I enjoyed the job (except cleaning the bathrooms!) and the town, I wasn’t making much money, so I decided to make even less and return to graduate school. (My business acumen is showing here.) Still, I didn’t give up fiction. Before and during graduate school, I drafted two rather dreadful novels.

Nine years, one marriage, and one child later, I finished my dissertation, entitled “Whores and Witches: The Language of Female Misbehavior in Early Modern England 1560-1640,” hung my newly-minted Ph.D. on the wall and considered my options. I loved teaching at the university, but the job market was tight, I wanted time with my daughter, and I still wanted to write. After the birth of my second daughter, I signed up for a class with the Institute of Children’s Literature. I still love teaching, though, so I started teaching writing to kids and to women. Now I spend my time writing, editing, and submitting my stories, as well as teaching and exploring the meanings of dreams.

I have two elderly and noisy cats, Tilki and Yoda.

My Writing

My first and deepest writing love is fantasy. I have profound respect for writers who can set their stories in the real world and carry me away into their stories, but as a teen, especially, the real world was a place I wanted to escape from. Fantasy offers the chance for bigger-than-life heroes and villains, epic stages for the struggle between good and evil, and worlds where magic works. I’ve always wanted to be able to work some true magic, and writing is the closest I’ve come to making that happen. I have tried writing a couple of mainstream novels. I find them even more challenging than fantasy.

My first publication was “The Silent Meadow” in the March 2002 issue of CRICKET Magazine. This was the moment I knew I was a real writer. I’d subscribed to Cricket when it first started publication, so having my first story published there was a wonderful treat. The story went on to win a Magazine Merit Honor from SCBWI, and was then included in the anthology First-Time Authors, published by the Institute of Children’s Literature. That brought it full circle, because the story started as an assignment in the correspondence course I took through the Institute. The illustrations for “The Silent Meadow” were an author’s dream come true. Leah Palmer Preiss included the tiniest details and captured the images in my head precisely. This story launched my love for, and fascination with, bees.

I’ve entered many contests throughout the years, and sometimes, my stories have done well.

  • Pikes Peak Writers Conference Paul Gillette Memorial Contest
    • 2nd Place, Science Fiction/Fantasy Category 2004
    • 3rd Place, Young Adult Category 2004
    • 1st Place, Children’s Category 2001
    • 2nd Place, Science Fiction/Fantasy Category 2001
    • 3rd Place, Mainstream Category 1999
  • Authorlink 2000 New Author Awards Competition
    3rd Place, Children/Young Adult Category 2000
  • Southwest Writers Workshop
    • Finalist, Young Adult 2000
    • Finalist, Children’s Picture Book 2000
    • 2nd Place, Children/Young Adult Short Story 1999
    • 2nd Place, Children’s Book Category 1997
  • Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Contest
    • Finalist, Science-Fiction/Fantasy Category 2005
    • 3rd Place, Science Fiction/Fantasy Category 1992

 

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