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About Me

I'm a native of Florida, currently living in Rhode Island. I was born in Melbourne, a distinction I share with Jim Morrison. Although Morrison only spent the first nine months of his life there, I spent the first twenty years. That landscape informs my work: scrub pine, hardwood hammocks, salty breezes off the Atlantic, brackish breezes off the Indian River.

I began writing in my teens: really bad love poetry that filled several spiral notebooks. My first publication, at the age of 16, was two of those awful, awful poems in the Camp Golden Valley newsletter in 1977. Since then, I've written plenty of bad poetry, as well as some pretty good pieces. I studied English Education at the University of Florida and later earned an MFA from Emerson College. My work, both poetry and fiction, has been published in a number of literary journals, including The Carolina Quarterly, Cimarron Review, Evening Street Review, Saw Palm Journal, and The Masters Review, as well as in the anthologies Dreams for a Broken World, Forgotten Women and Shoreline. I've received literature fellowships from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities.

In 2020, I was lucky enough to have two books published. My novel, Burn Down This World, came out in February with Adelaide Books. Set at the University of Florida during the Vietnam War era, the narrative centers around Celeste and Reid Leahy, a sister and brother active in the anti-war protests that took place on campus in the spring of 1972. The best part: Jim Morrison makes an appearance.

 

My newest book, You Can Tell Me Anything, is a collection of short stories published by Mint Hill Books, an imprint of Main Street Rag Publishing Company. Kirkus Reviews called the stories "Tales that present emotionally complex characters with empathy and insight". I can't argue with that.

 

Former director of the Ocean State Writing Conference, I now work in the Liberal Arts Division at the Rhode Island School of Design. I also lead community-based writing workshops. Along with writing, I'm passionate about papermaking and bookbinding. You can see my handmade paper and journals on Instagram @booksbookspaper.