Biography
I grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, home of Michigan State University and many, many wonderful coffee shops where I spent my afternoons writing and fantasizing about being a published writer someday. In the meantime, though, I was also passionate about music and history, so I attended the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music for my Bachelor's of Music in French Horn Performance and Music History. I published my second short story the year I graduated from Oberlin and left for a year in Vienna on a Fulbright scholarship, studying Austrian music history.
Needless to say, in Vienna I found even more wonderful coffeeshops, and lots and lots of writing inspiration. When I got back to America, I started my M.A. in Historical Musicology and also made my smartest-ever writing decision: I applied for the Clarion West writing workshop, a 6-week residential course where I learned an awful lot, saw my writing improve, and met my wonderful husband, fellow writer Patrick Samphire.
I've now sold over twenty short stories, most of which are listed on this website, and some of which are free to read online or to listen to as audio podcasts. Patrick and I live in Yorkshire, England, with our wonderful border collie-terrier-mix, Maya, who is crazy and sweet and adorable. We found her at the Border Collie Trust shelter in Birmingham in December 2006, and you can see a photo album of Maya on my Flickr account. You can also see a photo album of our first dog, Nika, on Patrick's Flickr account. Yes, I am completely dog-crazy. How did you guess?
For occasional Maya photos and frequent life-and-writing updates, check out my regularly-updated online journal, and please feel free to say "hi" in the comments!