I was born in a small town in Virginia and now reside in a slightly bigger town in Virginia. I’ve been married for 30 years. My husband and I are learning to live with an empty nest, so we ask each other things like, "Have you talked to the kids today?", and "Have you seen my reading glasses?" Our son lives a state away with his wife and daughter. Our daughter lives nearby with her husband, son, and daughter. We are “Grammy” and “Tony”, because we are major awards to our three grandchildren, as they are major awards to us.

We have two dogs and a cat, all named after characters played by Gary Sinise.  It's not that we are particularly fond of Gary Sinise; it's just that we happened upon a puppy at the pound who looks exactly like him. We named her Lieutenant Dan, and the pattern went on from there.  Our cat George Milton adopted us soon after, and then we added Goldendoodle Detective Mac Taylor.  Dani, Millie, and Mac get our empty nest attention and we sit around wondering what they think about their very spoiled lives.  

Besides my family, my greatest joys are writing, teaching, and watching my students’ writing skills evolve and strengthen.

Some other things about me are that I’m short, love the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, in bed by 10pm, and a little bit pessimistic.

I have developed several writing projects, including two elementary school story/textbooks, “The Adventures of Milo and Ace” and “How to be a Hero”.

I hold a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and have been teaching writing for three years.