This blog, like 90% of my life, is a work in progress. I’m a Seattle-based writer whose heart stays stubbornly loyal to the Southwest.

My first short story, messily scrawled at age 6, was “Sammy the Rock.” Opening: “All the dogs in New York City hated cats, except one. His name was Ralph. This is his story.”

I grew up a tomboy, a bookworm, and daydreamer. The stories I loved were about extraordinary journeys, disastrous passions, or fateful misunderstandings. As an actress and playwright, I learned to respect plot and character: plot as an unfolding of our choices, and character as revealed through our actions.

I believe the stories we tell each other create a shared world founded on imagination and empathy, so that we may “only connect,” as E.M. Forster wrote, “and live in fragments no longer.”

One theme that fascinates me is the pursuit of love, its loss and the possibility of redemption. My novel, “In Your Dreams,” shows a woman possessed by her artist husband’s ghost in order to paint a mysterious portrait. She learns to accept her grief only when she learns the truth of his death.

Another theme I explore is the uneasy frontier between different cultures. In my novel “Stranger in Paradise,” young Joan Adair falls for a young musician from Mexico, which leads to a painful journey of enlightenment for them both.

My current work-in-progress, “Penelope’s Pot,” is a take-off on the “Odyssey,” but with a twist: instead of Ulysses returning home, Penelope goes in search of him. Ultimately, the story poses the question of whether truth and beauty can outweigh the terrible sorrows of this world.

FICTION PUBLISHING CREDITS:
“La Familia de las Momias” – The Bellingham Review, Spring 2006
“Sister” – The Santa Fe Literary Review, Summer 1992
“Big Quilt” – Byline Magazine, late 1980s
“On Finding a Lost Dad” – personal essay published in Sunday magazine of the Albuquerque Journal, 1991
Various book reviews written for the Albuquerque Journal, 1986-88

PLAYWRITING CREDITS
Commissioned plays for La Compañia de Teatro, Albuquerque, New Mexico from 1986-2000:
“The Price We Pay” – a full-length play examining New Mexico politics

“The Night They Stole the Santo Niño” – a Christmas play for children and adults

“The Merchant of Santa Fe” – co-author of a bilingual drama inspired by Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”

“Tierra Encanta” – co-author of bilingual musical

New York staged readings in late 1980s:
“Mother of Pearl”, “Home Movies” and “Red River Blue” produced by Women in Theater Network

Education:
B.A. in Theater Arts and Creative Writing, University of New Mexico 1989.

Studied playwriting with: Mark Medoff, New Mexico State University; Kurt Dempster, Ensemble Studio Theater, and Romulus Linney, Playwrights Horizon , New York City; James Linnell and Bob Hartung, University of New Mexico

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching assistant for Laura Kalpakian’s memoir class at University of Washington;

NM Artist-in-Residence for playwriting – February 1993 – John F. Kennedy Middle School, Gallup, New Mexico;

Celebrate Youth mentor for young writers three years