After retiring from journalism in late 2025, I’ve returned to the creative writing I loved when I was younger. I write, read, study, think, and talk poetry. Mostly. Maybe also a little history and politics. And earth science. And biography. Movies. A smidge of trashy TV. Regardless, I’m always humbled by the difficulty of writing well.

My earliest creative ventures, in first and second grade, were devoted to what’s now called fan fiction – creating my own versions of Nancy Drew mysteries and stories like Half Magic. Teenage me filled notebook after notebook with angsty and/or love-stricken poetry. Here’s an early effort:

There goes another fantasy
rolling down the hill.
Rotten with old longings,
it will burst at the bottom
and kill all the grass.

You’re welcome, world!

I earned a bachelor’s in finance with an English minor in 1988, and an MA in creative writing in 2003. In between, as my husband and I raised two children, I ran a volunteer literacy program, published a bit of literary and mystery short fiction, taught adult education and LSAT prep classes (ask me about logic games some time), wrote a novel that earned me an agent and some editorial interest but not publication, and worked as a freelancer covering movies, food, wine, lifestyle, business and travel. During grad school and for two more years I taught comp and rhetoric. I missed reporting, though, and realized I was not cut out to be an academic. I began covering shipping for the port of Mobile, AL, in 2004 and then for the trade publication The Journal of Commerce in 2005.

Writing about global shipping and managing international conference programming turned into a rewarding 20-year career for me. I covered news, wrote editorials and conference programs, managed reporters, recruited and prepped speakers, and traveled the world. I loved it, but it was all-consuming. Now, after quite a fun time with all that, I’m overjoyed to be retired and back to creative work — for the most part. I am still freelancing a bit in my old industry.

I took this kitty photo in Istanbul a few years ago. The header photo was taken by my husband in Topkapi Palace, also in Istanbul, one of the coolest cities in the world.