Who I Am
Daughter, writer, and chicken wrangler describe my current season of life.
Writing stories runs through my veins and it’s the only thing I can imagine myself doing for the rest of my life. I am a graduate from Southern New Hampshire University where I honed my craft with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and English with a specialization in Fiction.
Everest (my service dog), my mom, and I live in a small country town at the Crossroads of America in Oklahoma. I love our amazing historic town where everyone knows each other, and businesses close in time to get home for supper. Where we celebrate founder’s week each year in our 89er’s Festival, so we never forget those who came before us!
My debut novel Ravenwood Institute is being published Fall of 2023.
As I continue towards publication I write How to Write blogs and vlogs, along with short stories that will make you laugh, cry, and create conversations about taboo subjects such as mental health, grief, and suicide to bring awareness, destigmatize, and show people that they are not alone in this journey called life.
My Story
I am a Gold Star kid, in other words, a military surviving child who lost my father to suicide due to PTSD when I was six. When my dad died by suicide in 2008, suicide was still heavily stigmatized and considered shameful, so it was rarely talked about. I spent most of my life believing I could not tell my story or share what happened and how I felt in the aftermath of his death. Writing became my way of letting go of the unique emotions experienced by losing a loved one to suicide. It was not until my senior year in high school that I realized that my story had the power to help the next generation of kids coming up after me.
That summer, I learned the true power of a story. I have been going full force ever since, writing stories with real authentic characters and stories to show people they are not alone.
My Mission
My mission is to write stories, articles, blogs, and Bible studies that destigmatize taboo subjects and bring hope to people who struggle with mental health. I also write how-to blogs about creative writing so others can learn to share their stories too.