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 Ho more...
