I came late to writing, starting my love of creativity and self-expression with painting.

At age fifty, I followed a long-time dream and returned to graduate school for an MFA in Fiction at Goddard College. Many of my characters were artists and foodies, two of my personal passions. I went on to write three novels, including Qualities of Light, a YA queer novel which was nominated for PEN/Faulkner and Lambda Literary awards.

Over the years, about two hundred of my essays, short stories, and articles appeared in magazines and literary journals. As I got to be a better writer, and became fascinated with how exactly a book was structured, I began teaching writing workshops online and at the Loft Literary Center, Grub Street, Madeline Island School of the Arts, and other schools. My writing-craft book, Your Book Starts Here, which came from those workshops, won the New Hampshire Literary “Reader’s Choice” award in 2011.

To pay forward some of what I’ve generously received from my teachers and students, I also began a weekly award-winning newsletter which has subscribers around the world. In it, I share book-structuring tips, writing insights, and interviews with published writers. I also have a YouTube channel with over 200,000 views that offers tutorials on book-structuring techniques.

I still love to paint in plein air, often in my garden or on the beach in Maine or wherever I travel with my spouse of many years and our two long-haired miniature dachshunds.