About Me
My background
How far I have come, from being a young rural New England reader and writer, to dwelling in the largest U.S. cities and glorying in an international marketplace of ideas and words.
My writing roots
My first book was published in first grade, a single hardcover copy which was hand-typed, bound, and illustrated in crayon. Since then my fascination with writing has grown through reading and composing poetry, essays, novels, plays, and short stories, always looking for a unique plot device, characterization, word, or phrase. Today, my interest turns to language as it is used in marketing, persuasive scripts, and tuning the voice of an organization.
I began college level writing classes at the age of 13 in a program for younger scholars devised by Johns Hopkins University. I completed six classes by the age of 16, when I was forced to turn to history because I had taken all of the available writing classes.
I continued to write personally and professionally throughout my career, frequently writing advertising copy for parks and recreation departments, newsletters for corporate events, and brochures for local attractions.
My style
A piece of writing is like a dance, which has meaning as its steps, grammar as its music, and the expression of spirit as its reason for being. All of these components can be deployed according to classical rules, or in the pursuit of avant-garde productions. Some pieces have nuanced meanings within their social and political contexts. All writing reflects upon and adds to the web of ideas and usages that inform our next efforts.