I’ve written my whole life — short stories as a kid (my favorite one, “Iowa,” was fashioned after Michael Crichton’s Andromeda Strain), essays and papers as a college student, and legal briefs as a judicial clerk. While raising my two daughters, I wrote editorials for a local paper and magazine articles for Home Education Magazine.
In January 2009, I wrote the first words to Carpe Diem, Illinois. Five years later, Little Creek Press published the book, and it won the 2014 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award! Its sequel, God on Mayhem Street, was a finalist in the 2018 Winning Writers North Brook Street Prize.
Now I’m working on a set of four young adult dystopian called The Devil Particle Series. The first book in the series is The Devil Particle, which will be released on June 6th, 2023. I’m excited to get this book out into the world!
In addition to writing novels, I love to teach. As a writing instructor, I’ve critiqued manuscripts through the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies. I’ve also helped hundreds of writers hone their agent pitches at the Writer’s Institute. I’m a Chicago Writers Association (CWA) board member and the co-director of their educational programming. Previously, I was the managing editor of CWA’s The Write City Magazine and The Write City Review. I have a B.A. in psychology and a J.D., both from UW-Madison.
You can catch me writing on the UW-Madison Memorial Union Terrace in the summer. When it cools down, I put my young characters in impossible situations while sitting in my favorite chair at the beautiful Verona Public Library. I also write a twice-monthly newsletter that includes my adventures as an author and Writer’s Book Club. Thanks for stopping by!
