
The Dust Begins to Settle
This site is starting to take shape. After three days, the structure is here and my portfolio has enough content to make it worth listing it in my email signature and linking it on my social media. Not bad for this short amount of time.
I am sure there will be many improvements/refinements to work on, but if you are here reading my second post, welcome!
I’ll be writing about the process of becoming a published author and also on topics that interest me. I hope you will follow me and we can go down this road together.
My Early Years: Moving A Lot
Some background: I was born in a Navy family and moved every two years starting at the age of three months. We lived in Washington state (where I was born), California (Oxnard, Spring Valley, Chula Vista, and more), Virginia, and the San Miguel base in the Philippines.
In 1980 we ended up in Chula Vista (stuck between San Diego and the border of Mexico) and that’s where I went to junior high and high school. It’s also where I met my husband when I was just 13 years old. We were friends for a long time but when I was 26, we married. I’ve lived in San Diego ever since 1980 except for two years of grad school in Pullman, WA to get an M.A. I consider Southern California home.
I Decide What I Want to Be When I Grow Up
I earned my Ph.D. in English Literature (focus: Shakespeare) with a dissertation about “Working Women in Shakespearean London.” After teaching at the University and Community College level (as an adjunct composition instructor mostly because that is where the jobs were), I left academia to be a freelancer.
I still talk about historical and literary topics from time to time (because I still love my old topics) but now I help people and nonprofits promote their work. Lately I have been doing more work for writers, including building them author websites, running their social media, and designing promotional materials like bookmarks, postcards, and business cards. It’s been fun.
Otherwise, my time is spent writing and volunteering with some organizations. I am on the boards of the San Diego Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Zamorano Book Club. I also volunteer with the Poway-Midland Railroad as a steam train engineer.
I think that’s more than enough background for now. If you want to know more, stay tuned. I’ll try not to be so long winded next time.