Roots
Planted in the fields of Southern Idaho, I grew up with my potato farmer father and two siblings and miles of dirt as my playground. (More siblings and parents soon entered those pictures.) The freedom of the fields and minimal parental supervision allowed me many moments of creative exploration and fun. While I also spent my summers in the big city (Seattle) with my artist mother, and talked constantly to my friends about the exciting things there, it is the ground of home that often colors my writing.

Unsure of what else I would enjoy pursuing in college, I was moved toward writing by teachers’ compliments and my pure enjoyment in the whole laborious process of writing enough that I decided to study Creative Writing and Publishing Arts at Lewis-Clark State College. There I enjoyed the tutelage of writers Claire Davis, Kim Barnes, Robert Wrigley, William Johnson, and Dennis Held who helped my writing mature immensely. While at LCSC I also had the opportunity to work at Confluence Press under the guidance of James Hepworth, gaining experience reviewing manuscript submissions, editing, and helping in the publication process of a number of books.

Upon graduation from college I became a mother for the first time, and three others have followed, so writing has taken a backseat, but how I miss those days of writing workshops—the vulnerability, the courage, the process, the creation. Without that motivation of a deadline or classmates to face, in my free time I opt for a book rather than to write myself because writing is such an act of commitment for me. ;) So hoping this forum will work to motivate me!

I now live in Sacramento, California with my husband, Ben, where most of my time is spent trying to love, inspire, help, redirect, and shape our four wonderful, but often difficult children. In those rare moments of free time I also enjoy a date with my husband, photography, recycled art, and cooking new things.