ABOUT ME

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I've wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember.
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Growing up in rural Texas, we didn't have cable television. Most people are surprised when I tell them that, but I never thought much about it. I had books, encyclopedias, the outdoors, and a library card. As far as I was concerned, I could go anywhere.
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That love of adventure eventually became real. I've wandered through castles, stood where the Berlin Wall once divided a city, climbed to the top of Notre Dame, toasted the Fourth of July from the Eiffel Tower, and somehow managed to get a speeding ticket on the Autobahn. I'm still not convinced it shouldn't count as an accomplishment.
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I never expected the story that would change my life to happen so close to home.
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In November 2017, I was attacked by a stranger while out for what should have been an ordinary evening. The attack lasted only minutes, but the effects lasted much longer. Recovery wasn't something I could check off a list. There were panic attacks, PTSD, counseling, setbacks, and a lot of questions I couldn't answer.
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Eventually, I started writing about it.
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Not because I thought I had some profound message to share, but because writing has always been how I make sense of the world. What started as trying to untangle my own thoughts became To the Bone, my debut memoir. It's an honest account of what happened during the attack, what happened after everyone else went home, and what it looks like to slowly build a life again when it doesn't feel like your own.
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Writing that book reminded me that some stories are worth telling simply because they're true.
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I'm also working on a very different story.
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Helen: A Story of Family, Faith, and Food is about my Granny—the woman who somehow managed to make enough Sunday dinner for anyone who happened to show up and never let you leave hungry. After she passed away, my cousins asked me to write the memories we shared for her funeral. I had to stop myself at nine pages. I realized I wasn't finished telling her story.
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When I'm not writing, I'm usually reading, planning another trip, decorating cakes, or spending time with my husband, our daughters, and our dogs. I still live in Texas, I still prefer a good book over television, and I'm still convinced that everyone has a story worth telling.
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Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you're here.