The Author

Photo by Shannon Brandau

I grew up in the Midwest, in a middle-class Chicago suburb, the middle child of a C.P.A. with the heart of a literature professor and a homemaker with the mind of an entrepreneur. My family told stories around the dinner table. I listened.

After college (in the Midwest), and a move to another city (in the Midwest), I wrote for money, first as an exhibit writer and then as a political communications director. Then I moved back to my hometown, had children, and finally did what I’d always wanted to do: sit in a room and write for free.

My debut novel, The Rooms Are Filled, was published in the spring of 2014. It is loosely based on one of my family’s stories.

I also write online for Great New Books and PDXX Collective and blog at True STORIES. I am a contributor to the anthologies Three Minus One and The HerStories Project.