My writing explores the multitude of ways in which we grow stronger and truer to our authentic selves. We do not wake up one day as warriors. Instead, it is an ongoing process that takes attention and work. The warriors’ journey is often as equally full of back-sliding as success. It  asks only that we pay attention and learn, our attention to growth and service to others.

The stories here are all autobiographical – essays, excerpts from my memoir and works of fiction  that draw on emotions that I have felt. My writing is an act of cheerleading and connection. More than anything, I want to dispel the myth that we are alone in this world. I hope readers gain a better understanding  of the challenges we face on a path to a more authentic, rewarding life. In putting words to often difficult emotions and situations, I seek to be a voice for those who have lost theirs. I want to create  compassion that will allow for personal and global change.

I  love writing about the natural world and how we are changed by our experiences in it. Nature has a unique ability to shift our perspective, allowing us to truly see. All healing begins with imagining what it possible instead of getting lost in the challenges.  Our time playing outdoors, exploring and challenging ourselves settles us into our true place in the larger world and  allows us to become more of who we really are.  Whether in the city observing crows or on extended trips to remote wild-lands,  nature grounds us and has the capacity to create deep change in us.

I have extensive public speaking experience and have frequently been a keynote speaker and Master of Ceremonies for  fundraising, business and community groups both locally and nationally. I speak on a variety of inspirational/motivational and cancer survivorship topics to groups small and large. I am an experienced teacher, leading small groups or lecturing on a variety of topics from The Artist’s Way to What The Cluck? Raising Urban Chickens.

I have a MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard. My essays, fiction and nonfiction have been published in a variety of  health related webzines and newsletters, online literary journals and print publications including The Pitkin Review, Sugar Mule and Minerva Rising and Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine. Additionally, my story Becoming Amazon  was included in the 2011 survivorship anthology, How We Became Breast Cancer Thrivers, published by Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine