I grew up in a home where an evening spent reading was as magnificent as it was ordinary.
My sister and I would fill color-coded plastic bowls with snacks, choose a music soundtrack, burrow into the sofa, and let our parents settle in around us. Whether we were all reading the same book or each reading different books, my family occupied fictional worlds as agreeably as we occupied the real world.
Early on, I felt a personal connection to my favorite authors.
Laura Ingalls Wilder shared my first name. Beverly Cleary wrote about kids who lived on a street near my house. Louisa May Alcott elevated a quiet family like mine. Lucy Maud Montgomery told stories about a girl with an imagination I recognized.
As an adult, I began reading the published journals of my growing list of favorite authors.
I toured their historic homes-turned-museums and pictured their daily lives, ever more intrigued by the connection between real life and creative writing. Ever more intrigued by the notion that an ordinary woman living an ordinary life might spin all those ordinary moments into a magnificent story.
Now, I love inviting readers into that special place where real life inspires fiction.
My interactive serialized stories are directly influenced by readers like you, and my podcast episodes reveal the story behind the story. My journal entries share the delights and disappointments inherent in creative work. My book reviews ask questions about what we’re learning—as well as what we find beautiful, uncomfortable, humorous, devastating, or promising.
I also enjoy swimming, knitting, listening to music, and organizing whatever feels messy. And reading! (I keep one shelf in my home library is empty, though, as a tangible reminder to hold on to the dream of seeing my own books in print someday.) I live with my rock star of a husband and a rescued hound dog on an island in the Pacific Northwest.