I was born in Cook, MN, a small town near the Canadian border. My father was a Lutheran minister and a mission pastor who established two parishes in Minnesota before moving our family when I was three years old to Northern California. There, he established two more parishes, in Fairfield and then Cupertino, just as the town began its transformation into the center of what became Silicon Valley.  

Like most families, mine had its challenges. My mother had many health problems and became addicted to opioids when I was about 10 years old. I had two older sisters and a much younger brother, who developed schizophrenia as a teenager. He was able to lead an extraordinary life, and we were very close. He died at age 50 in 2014. That’s him and me in the photo on this page.

I graduated with honors from the University of California at Berkeley, where I majored in English and wrote my senior thesis on Mark Twain. I wish I still had a copy of it. I earned a master’s degree in American Literature from San Francisco State University and wrote my master’s thesis on Herman Melville’s early novels. I still have a bound copy of that one.  

After graduate school, I taught English briefly at San Francisco State University and then started a career in business, first as a technical writer and then in corporate communications. I worked in the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C., in telecommunications, finance, healthcare, and other industries, in staff and management roles, and as a freelance copywriter and speech writer. It was demanding work and a great deal of fun.  

I left corporate work in 2024 and now focus my creative life on writing short stories, poetry, essays and other works about contemporary life and its complexities.  

In addition to writing, my interests include theater, film, swimming, cooking, and political engagement. I am an avid reader, a Democrat, a Unitarian Universalist, and a lifelong community volunteer.  

My volunteer work has included caring for harbor seals at the Marine Mammal Center, answering crisis line calls at the San Francisco Suicide Prevention, and helping formerly incarcerated men write resumes and prepare for job interviews through a program at Glide. I am currently a volunteer at the Edmonds Food Bank.  

I live in Edmonds, WA, just north of Seattle, with my cat Mack.  

  

I was born in Cook, MN, a small town near the Canadian border. My father was a Lutheran minister and a mission pastor who established two parishes in Minnesota before moving our family when I was three years old to Northern California. There, he established two more parishes, in Fairfield and then Cupertino, just as the town began its transformation into the center of what became Silicon Valley.  

Like most families, mine had its challenges. My mother had many health problems and became addicted to opioids when I was about 10 years old. I had two older sisters and a much younger brother, who developed schizophrenia as a teenager. He was able to lead an extraordinary life, and we were very close. He died at age 50 in 2014. That’s him and me in the photo on this page.

I graduated with honors from the University of California at Berkeley, where I majored in English and wrote my senior thesis on Mark Twain. I wish I still had a copy of it. I earned a master’s degree in American Literature from San Francisco State University and wrote my master’s thesis on Herman Melville’s early novels. I still have a bound copy of that one.  

After graduate school, I taught English briefly at San Francisco State University and then started a career in business, first as a technical writer and then in corporate communications. I worked in the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C., in telecommunications, finance, healthcare, and other industries, in staff and management roles, and as a freelance copywriter and speech writer. It was demanding work and a great deal of fun.  

I left corporate work in 2024 and now focus my creative life on writing short stories, poetry, essays and other works about contemporary life and its complexities.  

In addition to writing, my interests include theater, film, swimming, cooking, and political engagement. I am an avid reader, a Democrat, a Unitarian Universalist, and a lifelong community volunteer.  

My volunteer work has included caring for harbor seals at the Marine Mammal Center, answering crisis line calls at the San Francisco Suicide Prevention, and helping formerly incarcerated men write resumes and prepare for job interviews through a program at Glide. I am currently a volunteer at the Edmonds Food Bank.  

I live in Edmonds, WA, just north of Seattle, with my cat Mack.