If only I'd had my stories to read when I was a young adult...
I am a freelance copywriter and former magazine editor. That means I spent more than 17 years slaving over ad copy, concepting marketing campaigns, panicking about deadlines, and hoping that one day I’d write something longer than a three-page article.
It took more than a swift kick to make that happen. After a health scare that coincided with the folding of the magazine I edited, I sat down to write A Place In This Life, an edgy YA tale about the relationship between an introverted girl and a tough boy who happens to have leukemia. Based on real events, A Place In This Life looks at the consequences of doing what seems easy… and doing what feels right.
Seems edgy is my thing, because I went on to write SWELL, a dark story about an art prodigy who falls in love with an alcoholic, and becomes one herself. It’s more than your average teen drinking story — SWELL is an exploration of what happens when we put others before ourselves.
You could say that my writing has the undertones of Laurie Halse Anderson, but with a touch of twisted wit and a voice that’s been dying to tell the stories in my head since I was in the third grade.
Enjoy!
Update: I’m happy to announce that I’ve been offered literary representation for A Place In This Life. It is still a beautiful miracle to me that, within one year, I’ve gone from losing my job and being scared for my health, to writing two books and being repped by an agent. Good stuff does happen. Thank you, God.
