As a young adult I supported my writing habit by journalism, teaching, and food service work, and in relatively short order published my first novel and my biography of Helen Hunt Jackson.  After I had my two children, though, I became so busy with family and community commitments that it took all my energy just to find a few hours here and there to work on my second novel.  Today, as my beloved boys approach adulthood, I’m once again finding time for all sorts of writing projects.

I received my bachelors in English from Dartmouth College, Summa Cum Laude, in 1988, after which I taught English at Beijing Normal University in China for a year.  In 1997 I received my PhD from Harvard in American Studies, specializing in the fields of American history, literature, and ethnicity.  I was a scholarship, federal work-study student throughout both college and graduate school. During graduate school in addition to teaching I worked part-time for three years at Boston’s Irish International Immigrant Center, a major non-profit that works to help immigrants from all nations, including the undocumented.

During my long years of school I often lived and travelled abroad, developing language skills in French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.  I grew up in Southern California and now make my home in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband, two children, and our golden retriever, Lucky.

I’m very active on the Board of my local Mid-Peninsula Boys and Girls Club, working to empower disadvantaged youth.  You can learn about the great work our organization is doing here.