Raison d'etre
I am striving to understand how we can live more kindly, create more joy, and find more freedom to be who we are. Because I believe that telling the truth is the most important choice we can make in reclaiming our lives, I write.

Defining moment
When I discovered that I am one of approximately 3% of women who are not seriously offended by the word "moist," I finally understood why I've never fit in.

From whence I've come
I am a Jersey girl gone west. After living in San Francisco for a decade (with a two year detour to NYC in the middle), I moved to Portland in 2003 in pursuit of greater spaciousness, a worm compost bin and the freedom to cut a cat door into the side of the house, with no one to tell me it's not allowed.

Restless laurels
Writing the Life Poetic, a creative companion for poets, is forthcoming from Writers Digest Books. My poetry collection, Like the Heart, the World, was published in 2007. My poetry, essays, fiction and articles have been published in many print and online magazines, journals and anthologies. I have taught creative writing at universities, hospitals, writing conferences, and also online. For Black Lamb I write a monthly column titled "Making it Up," and I serve as managing editor and columnist for Writers on the Rise. In January 2006 I was awarded a writing residency at Soapstone.

Because community matters
In 2005, I founded the monthly reading series at Bold-Sky Café where I've had the pleasure of working with some of Portland's most enchanting writers. In 2007, the series  relocated to Barnes & Noble at the Lloyd Center. I have served on the board of the Next Word Literary Center and run reading series at New York University and in San Francisco. In 2008, I was delighted to join the VoiceCatcher editorial collective.

The day job
Since 1997, I have been the principal of Sage Communications, a marketing communications firm serving clients such as Kaiser Permanente, Dell, Wells Fargo and Intuit.

What I do when I'm not writing

• Pet and admire my dogs and cats
  
• Breathe in the green of lichen-laced forests;
  breathe out forgiveness
  
• Dance, drum, read, run, eat potatoes
  
• Make lists of things I have every intention of doing
  
• Try to quit chai, talk about trying to quit chai, drink chai
  
• Search for the gift in the wound; annoy my friends by
  insisting that they do the same
  
• Marvel that the cedar has hundreds of arms, none of which
  are grasping for anything beyond themselves
  

Education
I received my BA in Comparative Literature at Brown University and MA in English, Creative Writing from New York University where I was given money to write poetry for possibly the first and the last time.