What you might want to know about me right from the start:
Long ago, in a life very far from here and now, I was a minister. Now I live with my husband in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
After so many years of struggling to live as others said I should, I regularly find myself astonished at the power and beauty of living as I must. The more uncompromising I have become in navigating by the stars that are mine to follow, the more wonderful my journey has become. The Universe has been kinder and more generous to me than I had ever dared hope, let alone ask.
Although it took what has seemed a long time to find the hearth of creativity and happiness that is authentic to me, I have no regrets about the turbulent journey I traveled to find it. Now I apply myself to the disciplines, wonder, adventures, challenges and pleasures of walking my path. My heart is full of its rewards.
Most of what I write is called fantasy, but it's the best way I know to tell my truth, the stories that are mine to tell. Everything I write turns in some way on the mystical inter-dependence of the visible and invisible worlds - spirit and form. The forces of these dimensions seek each other more passionately than lovers, and where they join in a human heart they unchain the mystery of beauty.
That heart knows, then, what seemed to be spirit or form is never exclusively only itself, what it might be without the other. In that heart the dictates of neither realm dominate alone, but together create in tidal ebb and flow between them. This, I believe, is where real magic rises, where life catches fire, and where good stories find their enduring power.
For the last several years I have been honored to serve as one of the judges in the Queer Foundation's annual National High School Seniors Essay Contest. Finalists are selected from schools across the United States by members of the National Council of Teachers of English.
The goal of this contest is to promote effective writing by, about, and/or for queer youth, and to award scholarships to the winners.
I have found it deeply fulfilling to participate in this event. It's inspiring to read the entries - all of them essays I would never have been able to write when I was in high school. If you are seeking a worthy project to support via donation, please consider Queer Foundation.