I’m passionate about helping people feel good about themselves and what they are offering to the world. Words are a valuable expression of sharing your message, and proper writing and editing will help that message shine rather than be masked by poor verbiage, grammar, punctuation … the list goes on.
Writing and editing isn’t just what I do; it’s at the heart of who I am. I’ve studied the craft of writing extensively and used it professionally for more than 12 years. Now, I teach it to others at a university and through workshops and speaking engagements as well as practice it continually in my many professional endeavors, from being a magazine editor to being a children’s book author.
I am a new, soon-to-be published author — but not a new writer. My stories from childhood included a donkey named Papyrus and overuse of the words “dazzling” and “desolate.” I’ve since written some yet-to-be-published novels which each feature a strong female lead with wisdom, wit, and warmth surrounding the themes of family, love, and the ties that bond us all. My novels take influence from one of my great loves: travel.
I’ve traveled to 15 countries, and some of my favorite memories include eating and sipping my way through Italy, soaking in Iceland’s hot springs, walking along Croatia’s beaches, and floating in the Dead Sea in Jordan. My travels and the ideas I’ve come up with along the way (I thought of one of my novel’s concepts while driving along a highway in Jordan) have influenced my writing.
My true passion project is a children’s book series I created called Color Everything. The first book in the series, The Color of Mother, will be available in Spring 2019. As a child, I originally wrote this book as a poem for my mom. When I came across it for the first time in more than two decades, I knew it needed to be published for mothers and children everywhere. With this, my hope is to spread a message of love to children while thanking those who raise them.
By day, I am the editor-in-chief for So Scottsdale, a luxury lifestyle magazine in Scottsdale, Arizona. I also teach professional writing at Grand Canyon University. Born and raised in Dallas, I studied journalism at the University of Oklahoma and then got a master’s degree in professional writing there, where I found some of my most encouraging readers and inspirational mentors.
My wanderlust took me to San Francisco, California, before I moved to Phoenix, where I currently live. During my free time, I love hanging out with my rescue pup (a miniature poodle-bichon named Hope) and dreaming of the next place I’ll travel.