I live in a leafy part of Baltimore, Maryland, about nine miles from the hospital where I was born. I have also lived in Paraguay (three weeks), Providence, Rhode Island (four months), Washington, DC (two years), and—most significantly—the San Francisco Bay Area (10 years). During my decade in the East Bay, I met my eventual husband, we bought our first house, and we raised our son to age four. (Along the way, I also ate approximately 1,200 bean and cheese burritos.) Although I loved many things about Northern California, I’m an only child and wanted to be close by when my parents—still living in the Baltimore area—got older and needed me around. Fortunately, my native Californian husband was game for a move.

As a child, I loved school right from the start. But by the time I was in ninth or tenth grade, one thing had become clear: Analyzing stories and crafting sentences lit me up in a way that history, math, and the rest did not. So, in college at Johns Hopkins and then grad school at Georgetown, I studied literature and writing.

Since finishing my master’s, I’ve worked as an editor, copyeditor, and proofreader, helping individuals and businesses to develop and polish their work. I’ve spent time as an in-house editor, but for the most part, I’ve freelanced. And I’ve taught writing (an interview with me about that—and more—appears here).

I also write my own fiction, essays, and humor pieces, which have been published at NPR.org, American Short Fiction, The Johns Hopkins Magazine, and other outlets. When my son was young and my head was full of the grade-school years, I wrote and illustrated the middle-grade novel GENIE WISHES, which Abrams Books published in 2013.

I used to say I didn’t have hobbies (beyond reading and writing, I mean), but that’s not true anymore. I love listening to NPR and podcasts because they make hilly walks, housecleaning sessions, and tedious drives nicer. I love that you can mix up flour, yeast, salt, and water in the evening and bake no-knead bread the next morning (unless, of course, your yeast is dead, in which case the morning will bring only a sad beige lump). I love rooting for my houseplants (accidental pun), watching my little dogs zoom around the house, getting funny texts from my son, and taking long, winding walks with friends.

I’m on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but email is the best way to reach me. To email me, click the envelope icon below.