Origin Story

I was born outside Cleveland, and though I’ve spent most of my life in the American South — mainly Virginia and North Carolina — I still prefer “you guys” to “ya’ll.”

I started savoring writing in second grade, while keeping a journal, and journalism later became my career of choice as it seemed the most doable way to make a living by writing. Plus, it enabled me — I’m a curious, extroverted sort — to meet all kinds of fascinating people and ask them all kinds of questions to learn their stories. In journalism, I most enjoy writing features and personality profiles, and I wrote many of these for the regional magazine that my family and I founded and published for 15 years.

Though I’m especially partial to writing, I love all the arts. I spent many years singing in various choirs, finding the peak moments to be nearly spiritual experiences. I’ve always loved photography, both as a hobby and in my career, and I love to capture the magic of light and colors, experiment with angles, portray personalities with candids. Back in high school I had fun in forensics competitions and various theatrical roles, and nowadays, I really enjoy being at a mic.

I find both pleasure and therapy in being out in nature, and after growing up sailing, I find few things more enjoyable than being out on the water.

I began writing poetry off and on in my early adulthood, and in recent years I’ve enjoyed writing and reading it even more — its rhythms, its images, its ability to precisely, concisely, and powerfully preserve moments. In poetry I’ve found language richer and more vivid than in much of the journalism I’ve encountered. And when I read poetry aloud, I feel like I’ve found music on the page.