A bit about me

Am I a writer, or am I an editor of some sort? Yes. I’ve been fascinated by words and the magic they create ever since I was a little kid circling all of the E’s on a worksheet at school. After growing up a bit and graduating from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in English, I discovered that I loved the rules governing words almost as much as I loved reading and writing. This interest in grammar landed me a job as a cookbook production editor for a small publishing firm, which paved the way for a career as recipe editorial manager for The Pampered Chef, a kitchenware company.

I took a break from corporate life for a while to persue massage therapy, which is my current profession. However, words have found a way to stay in my life via blogs and habitual journaling. In 2021, my mother passed away. She had tried to get her life story onto paper, but that pursuit was left unfulfilled. It occurred to me that I should write her story, and over time I broadened my view and recognized that my family’s stories might encourage others.

So, to guide me through writing this memoir and to sharpen my copywriting and editing skills, I went back to school. I’m currently working toward my master’s degree in professional and creative writing at North Central College. There, to my surprise, I have learned that I also enjoy writing fictional stories and screenplays. The memoir is in the works, but a couple ideas for novels are brewing on the back burner as well. I can’t wait to see where my education will lead me.

My favorite authors include Amy Tan and Elizabeth Berg, but the author who made me a voracious reader early in life was Beverly Cleary and her awkward-but-endearing protagonists.