Born and raised in Nashville, I've lived in Vermont, Colorado, rural New Mexico, New York City, Knoxville, Minneapolis, and Boston, at some 30 different addresses. I collected five college transcripts before graduating with a BA in psychology from the University of Minnesota, and earned a PhD in clinical psychology from the same University in 1986. After retiring from 37 years of clinical practice, I'm still fascinated by human development and how children use play to work through emotional difficulties.

I've worked as a catfish cook, jelly bean salesperson, gardener at the Santa Fe Opera, preschool teacher, nanny, bookseller, car wash worker, fast food employee, research assistant, and psychologist. I love to sew quilts, garden, meditate, paint with watercolors, and learn new things.

A daughter of the South, I enjoy recreating my grandmother's recipes, and I make a killer pecan pie. Just like my grandmother, I'm under 5 feet tall. I'm a proud member of the Fisher Cats, a collective of women writers who study, write, and laugh with Minneapolis author and teacher Kate Hopper. I've studied writing at the Loft Literary Center.