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. While I was raising our three children, I worked as a freelance journalist, publishing articles, features, columns and profiles in newspapers throughout New England. Then, I earned a doctorate in American Literature and worked in academia for nearly two decades. Since moving to North Carolina in 2021, I've retired from teaching so that I can spend more time on writing and other pursuits.

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.