From telling stories to trees when I was five years old to writing short stories in high school, majoring in Journalism, and a career in grant writing, I have been a writer for most of my life. My storytelling passion is exploring little-known pockets of history featuring unsung women doing extraordinary things.

 My fourth completed YA novel is a cross between a medieval ENOLA HOLMES and a 13th century TRULY DEVIOUS,THE LOCKED GARDEN. It follows an anonymous 17-year-old misfit pickpocket as she flees a forced marriage and finds shelter with a lay women’s religious collective called the Beguines in the teeming port city of Bruges. It seems like a soft landing until gruesome murders threaten to shut down the only place she’s ever felt at home and take away her first love. Using her thieving talents and clever mind, she teams up with a learned elder to find the killer.

As a preacher’s kid, I experienced the good, the bad, and the often-ugly side of organized religion. Searching for meaning in faith led me down a research rabbit hole to the Beguines, an informal network of women's communities in the 13-15th centuries. They led contemplative lives while running hospitals, schools, and businesses and flourished independently from church authority.

 I participated in the 2022 Tin House YA workshop and the 2022 Highlights Foundation Whole Novel Workshop.  As a long-time member of a Beguine-inspired community, I often fail at contemplation and drink too much tea.