When I was a girl, I’d go to the library a lot. I’d walk the aisles, look at the enticing covers, read a page or two of a book, and then know whether or not that story was for me. Of course, back then it seemed like most stories were for me, but my sweet spot were mysteries, adventures, and ghost stories. I’d come out of the library with an armful of books, read them way too quickly, and repeat the process. I loved Encyclopedia Brown, and Mary Downing Hahn’s Wait Till Helen Comes. It’s during this time I realized I love to write too. I spent a lot of time writing bad poetry and an incoherent story about buried treasure in a haunted house. As I got older, I naturally progressed to reading Stephen King. Add in E.A. Poe’s macabre poetry, and that was my childhood.

Today, I still like ghost stories and mysteries (I blame my mom), but my reading tastes have evolved. Simply put, I like well-crafted, intriguing stories with diverse characters who have strong voices. I try to put these same elements in my stories. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail–that’s a part of writing.

For me, writing isn’t about perfection. It’s a lot of beginnings and middles. It’s a journey with no endings. I think Doris Lessing said it best, “There are no laws for the novel. There never have been, nor can there ever be.” I also like this quote I read on a fortune cookie, “Don’t worry about the odds - - just keep pushing toward success.” Perhaps somewhere between these two is my philosophy on writing. Or, maybe not.

I was born and raised in Maryland, and I’m currently living in the Old Line State. I’m a Whittier College graduate, with a B.A. in English. My short stories have been published in Linguistic Erosion and Wild Violet. When I’m not writing or reading, I’m working full-time in a cubicle, or binging on Netflix, or fishing, or cheering for my favorite sports teams, or baking, or daydreaming, or…