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I have had an eclectic collection of jobs over the years. I cleaned gym equipment at a YMCA, I handed out flyers at South Station on Boston, I even ran my own consulting firm for small museums. Though varied, I always have a had a great passion for history. I have a Bachelors in general history, and a Masters in Heritage Studies. Heritage Studies? what is that? well I think it is best described as ethnohistory, or not quite anthropology but more field work than history. I studied culture and how cultures help shape history. I loved learning about how the things we put meaning to shape our histories. I learned field work, oral history interviews, and research. I focused on how technology changes our culture, and have found great joy in finding connections between our past and how it changed our future. I taught for years as I mentioned last time, I always felt a sense of accomplishment when students would make the connections and see how all of history connects together.

Now that I have switched to writing, I find my life as a historian peeks through in many different ways. Like this week I am working on typing up my next novel, and needed to add a lullaby to the story. I found myself relying on my old skills and research and found that the oldest lullaby is from Babylon and titled 'Little Baby in the Dark House." I try to never get rid of old research and use it to inspire me in my work writing novels. I sit looking at my notebooks, binders and books as I type I can look up and see which book I may need to look into, be it to remind myself how long a train ride between Boston and Providence was in 1890 or some old research on the diaspora of Punk Rock.

Melding history and writing has been a great adventure. I love learning and mixing the things I have learned over my many years studying. The biggest part though I love is giving voices to the people I have studied. For years I would read about culture and always visualized things as if I was observing a friend in the situation. With writing these stories can come to life and others can experience a time and culture of the past and see connections to our own present. My first novel takes place in Nantucket, I was able to take research, my own trips to the island and combine it with my research into how women of the age were expected to live. I wanted to give a voice to the women who stepped outside the box and hope that others will find themselves in the story that they too can break free!

Want to hear more on culture and writing? I am doing a session at this years Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in September. For more information check out:RMFW 2025 Colorado Gold Conference

When I was in High School I attended a vocational school where we learned a trade, I picked Culinary Arts. I had so much fun learning how to cook and being creative. I took to baking especially and soon began competing in baking competitions. I won several awards for my chocolate works and sugar sculptures. But after four years of studying, I had lost the passion for making it my profession and started looking elsewhere. I knew I loved cooking, but I did not want to cook for a restaurant just for family and friends.

Today when I get stuck on a story and cant figure where to go next, I go to the kitchen. I search out the refrigerator for what I can make for my family. I swear they will be 10000 pounds with all the cookies
I bake, but food to me is a large part of my life and use it as a way to destress.
These days I'm not making giant sculptures, and cakes, but instead making family meals like in the photo above. That is Venus De Milo soup, a restaurant I grew up going to for special occasions, so whenever I am missing New England, I make a batch! Food has a strong pull toward a past where the scents and tastes of years pass come out from the food. I remember spending time making pasta with my mother, and today my son and I still make pasta every Christmas Eve.
From cookies to pasta, to my favorite pork chops, food finds a way into every story I tell, which makes sense, since cooking is my go to trick to get out of the blues. So do a little baking or make a s'more, go back in time and relive times past.
Want to make some Venus De Milo soup? check out this recipe: Venus De Milo

I honestly can not remember when I met Eric. We have racked our brains of if there was an exact moment that we met, but for the life of us we can not remember, I guess that's what happens when you meet the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with when you're 14. We attended Bristol Plymouth, the local vocational school and back in 2001, when I was a freshman and he a junior, I would hang out with our circle of friends playing Magic: The Gathering in the cafeteria before school. From these games in the morning, our friendship grew over the years. When he left for college, we kept in touch, and our friendship started to become deeper.

Then my freshman year of college, a snow storm changed everything. I was flying back to Wisconsin from Christmas break, and when I got into Detroit, my flight was cancelled. I was too young to get a hotel room, but could not get out until the next morning. I panicked and pulled out my laptop and logged onto AIM (yes it was that long ago) looking to talk to anyone. There was Eric, online at the same time, and I reached out, looking for any kind of distraction for a long night ahead. We chatted online for hours, he kept me sane in a nerve racking time, and from then on I started to look at him in a different light.

Fast forward to the end of my sophomore year, I start getting calls just about every weekend, and its Eric asking every weekend if I can come to a party. One problem was I was a 27 hour drive away and did not have a license. I would always reassure him that I was coming back at the end of April. I would come up that weekend to Boston to visit.

When I returned home, I kept my promise and went into Boston for a night. I brought along a friend and she kept asking if Eric was a potential romance or just a friend. I swore to her, he was just a friend, and we were just going to have some fun. Well that night, Eric and I found ourselves on a couch in his dorm, and he turned to me and kissed my cheek saying “ I have waited 6 years to kiss you” I smiled and in my typical sarcastic tone replied “ What took you so long?”

From that night back in 2007 we have been together. In 2010 on a cold December night, under the Christmas tree in the Boston Common, he got down on one knee and proposed. Two years later we married, and this upcoming may we will have been married 14 years and dating for 20 years.

I get asked sometimes how we have stayed together so long? My answer is always the same, marry your best friend, that friendship is the strong foundation of your love, that no matter what happens, we are always friends, and can confide and build each other up.

Here’s to a lifetime of laughter, love and friendship!

Wow! It has been a while since I've posted, but with good cause. A lot has happened since my last post. I published another book, I moved up in Martial Arts, and am currently recovering from knee surgery.

First to the good news! My newest book is out! The Dorcha, the first in a three book series starts the adventure for Sarah and her mythical friends. This book was outside my normal of writing about history, but the challenge was too tempting. I had the best motivator and idea machine in my 10yo. We would sit in my car before Martial Arts, where I would tell him what I was working on, and he would add ideas to it. He came up with the idea of Death Turtles and helped me figure out how best for them to combat the evil in the mythical world. He was very proud of this book, so much so, that he convinced his teacher to read it to the class! Now write the next two!

I am now a Brown Belt (for 3 more weeks) and have moved up to the ‘gup’ class. It was an easy transition as my years of sports prepared me for 3-4 practices. I committed to the process and was super excited to move up and learn more. Sadly, the muses had other plans. By week 3 I was out of commission and looking down the bleak tunnel of being on the sidelines.

I was at one of our study sessions (intensive 3-4 hours classes) where we were practicing board breaking. In hour 2 we switched to inside outside kick, one of my least favorite. I twisted my body as far as I could to get the power I needed to break. As I spun and kicked something popped, but I did break my board. I stepped off the floor and I haven't practiced since.

The next day I went to Urgent Care. After some x-rays, it was clear I had dislocated my kneecap. This was not the first time, more likely my 5th time. I always go all out when I play a sport, and this has led to many knee injuries over the years. Well, after over 30 years of sport, it finally said ‘I’m done’. After consulting with doctors and surgeons, it was determined I needed a new ligament, and I was sent into surgery.

I am 3 weeks post op now and the road to getting back looks longer than ever. It is a 6 month recovery, the longest in my career. It has been a hard road, and I am trying to stay positive. I still go to Martial Arts, I just help from a chair. I also am testing to move up, but yet again from a chair. As someone who has spent so much time on the field/court/mat, being away is hard. I try to sneak some extra movements in, but right now, my biggest movement is standing for a few minutes.

It has helped me go back to art and crafts. I keep myself busy drawing and knitting, or other crafts. Today I crocheted patches for a chair that my cats destroyed! I am looking ahead, but the steps are small. It is helping me find different paths to stress relief and has shown me where I belong: On the mat!