As much as I knew about storytelling, I didn't know much about writing a story.  Yet, I have said that I had five books I wanted to write.  Three are memoirs and two will be novels based on true events.  Since time was marching on and I knew I needed knowledge and skill, I began to study writing in 1999 by attending my first writers' conference.  Centrum would be my summer home for the next four years.  After that I moved my interest to Tin House in Portland. Over the years I studied with such notables as Alan Furst, Dorothy Allison, Abigail Thomas, Ann Hood, and Valerie Miner.  Each challenged me and improved different skill sets, not to mention many outstanding classmates.    FIRST LOVE, LAST DANCE is a memoir about hope and second chances. My mother, Elise, fell in love for the first time at age 19.  Peter was his name.  She became engaged to him at 21 but didn't marry him until she was 75!  (I had to write this one)  

I have a B.S. from Miami University and an M.A. from Northern Michigan University. I won first place in a new talent contest held by the Phoenix Writers Group and second place for a short, short fiction piece held by Writers of the West.