Biography

Education

Being home-schooled for my primary education made me a successful student in secondary and higher education. After working a year to save enough money for a semester of college at Columbia International University, I earned a certificate in Bible. I had maxed out my loans after a year, though, and had to return home to attend Bristol Community College. I had to be patient through community college, which was a review of my high school college preparatory education, but won a scholarship to Bridgewater State University, where all my expectations of the educational experience were exceeded and I earned a Bachelour of Arts in English with a concentration in writing.

Work Experience

I often worked three jobs at a time to put myself through college and since my life situations kept me moving from place to place, I’ve held quite a large number of jobs over my relatively short life. I became a jack of all trades, master of none (except, I like to think, where my education trained me well and my passions lie). I am grateful for my retail experience, since I am a more educated consumer, and for my time working in a medical office, as I am more informed about how my insurance works. Babysitting and teaching children was a joy. Serving food and coffee was a great way to connect with people. Working with books and computers was an introvert’s dream. But the most challenging and fun was having writing assignments from my editor or getting the opportunity to edit myself.

Volunteering Experience

Editing is possibly my favorite thing to do; I’m obsessive about it. That’s probably why I don’t mind doing it for free. I’ve also given my time to childcare, teaching, mentoring and serving on a church board of missions.

Publication & Speaking Experience

I love writing. Speaking, not so much. That’s why I’ve written various articles ranging from personal interest stories to front page stories for a small-town newspaper, a welcome-new-students article for the school paper and an academic paper regarding women writers in the 19^th century for The Undergraduate Review. But I’ve only given one presentation, on the misconception about so-called sentimental literature of the 19^th century.

Views

I’m passionate about women’s issues or other issues I’ve encountered in my life, either directly or indirectly, such as racism and poverty/homelessness. (I walk by homeless people everyday.)  I am a firm believer that ignorance is the main reason for most of the world’s problems and education is the key to fixing them.

Interests

I’m also passionate about experiencing life. I like to eat and drink. Thanks to the great training I received at Starbucks as a barista, I am very interested in all things coffee. I don’t have one regular drink, but I enjoy a repertoire, which I refer to according to my mood. When it’s chilly, I like Long Blacks, Cappuccinos, London Fogs, Chai Lattes and, of course, the old standbys of cuppa joe, apple cider, hot chocolate and a variety of teas. However, I’m pretty particular about nothing being made from a mix.

Although I’m not a connoisseur, I also enjoy tasting wine. My current favorite is German Riesling Auslese but I also enjoy a great red, such as Merlot.

I love books. Some of my fondest childhood memories are those endless reading summers in which I gobbled up novels. My favorite novels are Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, the Twilight series, Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series and the Anne of Green Gables series.

My love of story spills into film. I love almost all film, even cheesy movies. A cheesy movie is great for instant gratification and if it’s not good, you can just make fun of it à la RiffTrax. Very rarely are movies so poor that they fail to entertain in any way and make me want to do penance for wasting two hours of my life. It is true they are out there and I’ve seen them, but, thankfully, there will never be a Happening 2.

Family

I have been married five years to a childhood friend, who shares my love of food and film. Micah remains the best and most loyal friend and person with which to experience life. He is also the father of my two-year-old son, Elijah. Elijah is skeptical and curious like the two of us, an extrovert like my husband and fastidious like me. I enjoy staying home with him for now, until that not-far off day when he goes to school and I probably will go back to school!