As a child, I kept notebooks of favorite words, made lists of rhymes, and wrote down snippets of things people said. As a teenager, poetry became my outlet of choice (that as well as bicycling), and I followed that passion throughout my college and graduate school years, keenly aware that poetry might not be the way to pay my bills.

In graduate school, I taught both at the university-level and the community, and I also began working in publishing at that time. My work in the publishing field has been wide-ranging, providing me with a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to create a book (or any other type of publication) from start to finish. From book development and marketing to writing and editing, I’ve stood on both sides of the publishing fence–as a decision-maker on the inside and as a writer trying to get my own work published. My formal experience includes work in children’s publishing, university press publishing, self-publishing, and academic publishing.

After being away for 20 years, roaming up and down the Mississippi River (from Louisiana to Minnesota and Illinois to Missouri), I now live in my home state of Wisconsin where I’m happy to be closer to family and long-time friends again. I teach and tutor in various prison programs and support myself through communication and marketing work in the education sector. For fun, I love to bicycle, hike, travel, and garden.