A published and award-winning writer, teacher, and single mother of two boys, my areas of expertise are in nonfiction and fiction writing, editing, and creative survival. I have Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Houston. I have published in salon.com, Oxford American, the Virginia Quarterly Review, and many other journals and magazines. My first novel, The Algebra of Snow, was nominated for a Pushcart Editor’s Choice Award and published in 2012. I am a certified Martha Beck Life Coach and KMCC Creativity Coach and am a graduate of the National Speakers Association Academy.