About

“She loves her kids and she loves to write.” — Kate, making up a song about me.

I am the 40-something mother of four children. My first son, Gabriel, was stillborn on June 8, 2003. I have two girls and another boy, Flora (formerly known as Monkey) and Kate (formerly known as Bun), and Michael. My husband, Dan (formerly DearDR), and I have been married for more than a decade. We live outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I have spent many years as a freelance writer and copy editor, with some graphic design (i.e. page layout) thrown in; I have also worked full-time as a writer and editor. After Kate was born, some freelance work trickled in, but it wasn’t much.

After a year of being a stay-at-home mom — an inadvertent choice on my part — I have been back in the full-time workforce trenches, as a full-time writer, for five+ years now. I don’t really like it that much.

I have been writing this here online diary for a few years. It’s been a great way for me to process what is going on in my life, and I’ve also discovered an amazing community of online writers, in and out of the ‘Burgh, moms and dads, and some people who don’t have kids. I vaguely remember what that’s like; I wouldn’t trade any of my children for the world, though.

All in all, it’s an amazing journey. Plenty of rough patches, but the rewards are far greater.