I've been a writer most of my life, but didn't admit it until 2009.
After earning a master's degree in Speech and Dramatic Art at the University of Iowa, I moved to Chicago, where I worked as a stage manager, director and administrator, in addition to being a founding board member of the League of Chicago Theatres. I was good at fundraising, and branched out on my own, raising millions for arts, education and AIDS service organizations. Later I became an award-winning sales consultant of children's books. But when a concussion ended my sales career, I decided to finally keep a promise to a dying friend to write a book about people grieving their friends.
That book got out of hand and turned into the Friend Grief series of six small books, which have earned recognition by filling a gap in grief support literature.
In 2015, Library Journal named me their first SELF-e Ambassador. Also that year, one of my freelance articles, "Long Time Survivor", won the Christopher Hewitt Award for Creative Nonficiton.
In 2019, I released a book that's not part of this series but one that is near and dear to my heart - Fag Hags, Divas and Moms: The Legacy of Straight Women in the AIDS Community - the first book to recognize the accomplishments of these women around the world.
Not one of those shy authors, I've presented at such various locations as Project Open Hand (San Francisco), The Muse and the Marketplace conference (Boston), Mt. Sinai Hospital (NYC), BookExpo America (NYC) as well as libraries and bookstores in the Midwest and East Coast.
I'm a card-carrying member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, Chicago Writers Association, Authors Guilde, and ACT UP New York (just kidding: we don't have membership cards in ACT UP).
What's next? Stay tuned!
