The greatest influencer in my writing career was my Grandmother Carr. I have always loved to tell stories. One day I brought home a book my Kindergarten teacher and I had made together. My grandmother asked me to read the story to her and I did. The next day when I went to her house after school I noticed she bought me art supplies, construction paper and lined paper. She told me to write a story, illustrate it and then read it to her.  Grandma Carr nurtured my writing throughout my childhood. By the time I was in High School I had created hundreds of books, was journaling on a daily basis and was interested in screenwriting. My mom had bought me two screenwriting books to teach me how to write screenplays. I studied those books so hard and wrote two Star Trek:TNG episodes.  I was drawn to the English classes in college so much that I had taken enough hours in English to make it my major. I had thought about pursuing that but was too interested in the time with anthropology. It was in my Freshman Honors English class that the professor had presented me with the idea that my work should be published. I graduated in 1999 but did not pursue my writing career until 2008 when my husband asked me one very important question, "What is it that you want to do with your life?" That was easy. I wanted to write for a living. He told me to go for it. I have been writing professionally since 2008 and I haven't look back since. 

MFA Creative Writing