My family says that I always wanted to be a writer. When I was a kid, I reported on our Florida vacation by writing a newspaper on a memo notepad, complete with articles about sightseeing, hotel room shenanigans, and navigating complex sibling relationships in the back of a station wagon. A few years later, I was able to publish two poems written for a class assignment—“Thumpy” and “Snowflakes”—in our local newspaper. I earned a $2 bill for each poem.

After those childhood successes I dropped my desire to write for a long time until, faced with the recession of the early ‘90s, it seemed about as practical a career plan as anything else. So, armed with a degree in political science, I went back to school to earn a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was a daunting challenge, but I relished it. I loved exploring new ideas, interviewing interesting people, and (hopefully) enlightening my readers. It didn’t matter what topic I delved into—even the most boring subject could be made fascinating if you really examined it with your wholehearted attention.

I took those lessons with me to New York, where I landed a job as an assistant to the legendary literary agent Connie Clausen. Turns out that as much as I loved to write, I also love to help other writers turn their sometimes-fuzzy ideas into polished manuscripts and published books. In the early 2000s, I worked for Paraview Publishing/Cosimo Books, a cutting-edge print-on-demand and e-book publisher, long before digital publishing became the norm.

I got a chance to write my own books when I met Bernardo Carducci, a psychology professor who studied shy people. Bernie and I collaborated on three books: Shyness: A Bold New Approach (HarperCollins, 1999), The Shyness Breakthrough (Rodale, 2003), and Shyness: It Happened to Me, The Ultimate Teen Guide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).

I also had the privilege of working as a political reporter for the Shepherd Express, Milwaukee’s independent weekly newspaper, where I interviewed scores of elected officials, community activists, neighbors, and newsmakers.

I’m currently supporting the good work of a large social services nonprofit in Milwaukee, and I love this change in direction. My colleagues don’t ask for recognition, but they are heroes.

I published my first novel, I Never Wanted To Be a Rock Star, the result of more than ten years of writing and revising and thinking and traveling and listening. I finished the rest of the Four Furies Trilogy quickly with Deep Cuts and Echo. I’m currently working on a retelling of the Clytemnestra and Agamemnon story, set in the 1970s in my hometown. I hope you enjoy my books. And thank you for visiting my website.