Welcome

In third grade, my best friend, Elaine, and I decided to write a mystery series called “The Adventures in Grumpity Land.”  We wrote the story, drew the pictures, and produced a few copies for our family and friends. As I recall, we used colored construction paper for the covers and sketched the images with crayons. Production involved folding paper in half, fourths, and eighths (we were really into tiny things back then) and trying to staple the book in the middle. I don’t have a copy of those little gems, but I recall how fun it was to write and create stories with Elaine.  

At our ten-year high school reunion,  Elaine and I caught up. She was a middle school language arts teacher, and I was in graduate school working on a master’s degree in English. Neither of us was surprised. Some things are in the blood.

Writing and reading are woven into my being. I get antsy if I don’t have my journal when I travel and annoyed if I can’t find a good book to read. Most of my career has been in academia, where I teach first-year college students how to write essays. But I’ve always written on the side, sometimes for personal enjoyment and sometimes for publication.

Which brings me to this website. This is where my writing is displayed: books I’ve written, essays I’ve published, and blogs I’ve posted. Hopefully, this site will give you a sense of what I’ve been up to since my mystery days with Elaine. 

Welcome.  I'm glad you're here.