I live in northern Vermont in a place known as the Kingdom. Born and raised in southeastern Colorado, I moved here after marrying and have raised two children with my cheesemaker husband on our family farm. I have always loved writing but rarely found time to write. I have been a student, a criminal court advocate for victims of violence, a bookkeeper, and a cheesemaker. For the past eighteen years, I have been a mother and the wife of an entrepreneur, first and foremost, finding stolen moments here and there to flirt with the page. I write often about everything and anything that inspires me. I have recently completed and published a memoir, a coming-of-age story experienced through the lens of my birth and childhood in a fundamentalist, highly restrictive religious group. I left when I was seventeen and subsequently contributed to the complete dismantling of the group. It is the only story I know of in which the kids who were born and raised in the cult were the instruments of its demise. The E-book is available on Apple Books and Amazon; paperback is also available on Amazon or to order from your local bookstore.
The past is truly past, and rather than reliving it, I observe it. My life has long been far from where it began, and that place has, gratefully, faded to nothing more than a faint echo, reverberating and fragmenting, stranger than fiction, fiction brought to life only through the reviving magic of my pen. The power to kill that past or to enshrine it for the future is power that laid deliciously at my feet, and I chose to preserve the story. Because some stories shouldn’t be allowed to fade into the oblivion of whitewashed lore.
As of October of 2024, I am no longer publishing on Substack. I am done being a needle in a haystack, done vying for likes and follows and validation from the faceless, dark void of the internet.
I will, however, continue to write. It is what I do, it is my truest self. If you have any interest in my thoughts and musings, you will find all of my future work on my here on my website under the Books and Newsletter tab. For those of you with social media, feel free to share if you are so inclined. Our time is precious and I appreciate the moments my readers choose to spend digesting my ramblings.
I am one, tiny voice in the din, but I’ve only ever hoped to inspire humanity and courage. Who knows how far my words will reach, but this format feels so much truer to my intentions.
And with that, feel free to scroll and comment and share as you are inspired to do so. And, thank you.