About

I’m a Writer and Publisher…

I live in the beautiful Southern Finger Lakes area of New York State, and was born here.
I know a lot about rural living.
I have four grown children—a son, a daughter, and identical twin boys, who all now have children of their own.
I am the grandmother of nine.
From 1970 to 1998 I lived on an operating dairy farm.
I love to garden—vegetables and flowers.
I live with my partner, Dudley, who is a life-time artist and now is a poet. We work together on projects of Light and Shadow Publishing & Illustrating, a company I own. We plan to grow the small press, and take on more projects in the future.
I have worked since October 1992 at the Schuyler County Department of Social Services. For most of that time I have been doing Medicaid eligibility for persons who have entered chronic care facilities. I worked in a law office before that.
I have an interest in politics and served for eight years as a councilperson for the Town of Hector.

My story, “The Life of a Dress” was published in the May/June 2014 issue of Good Old Days Magazine.

I’ve had a chapbook of poems, The Order of Things, published by FootHills Publishing, in 2002.

In 2012, my poem, “Gone Amok”, was published in the anthology, Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupy Anthology by FootHills Publishing and in May 2012 was republished in Work Force Magazine, which is distributed throughout NY to CSEA members.
“This Shared Place,” a poem that refers to an early previous owner of my property, was published in 2005 in Knocking on the Silence: An Anthology of Poetry Inspired by the Finger Lakes by FootHills Publishing.
A short story of mine, “Some Sins” was read on WXXI radio in Rochester, NY in April 2004.

I organized and have facilitated bi-monthly meetings of the Watkins Glen Writers Group since May 1994. I have organized the Watkins Glen Reading Series since July 1994. We invite featured readers to come to share written works each month. The readings are usually funded by Poets & Writers, Inc.
I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Literature from the State University of New York at Empire State College in 1994. I took a lot of psychology coursework because that was my initial planned program. After taking some creative writing courses, I changed my major.
I received a Master of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from the State University of New York at Empire State College in 2011.

I am writing a historical novel, which is loosely based on the life of a woman who purchased and owned the property here in the Town of Hector in 1828.
My interest in local history grew as I found out about her and have spent time researching her life. She was not a known historical figure, but her life intrigues me. The well-known historical figures are often written about, but ordinary rural people who lived and died on the hills in places such as Schuyler County NY sink into obscurity. My protagonist’s life, I imagine, was especially difficult because her husband became insane in an era when there were no hospitals for the insane and no effective treatments.
My interest in her propelled me to enroll in a Master Degree program that would help me learn more about historical research and writing.

coming soon – more about my publishing business.