Hello. I'm so glad you're here.

I want to rattle cages. I want to be a hand in the darkness. I want to tell stories with so much heart that the sealed hatch of a closed mind is blown open, grudges are forgiven and stodgy old sensibilities are offended. But for now, I’ll settle for telling stories in which the characters feel alive and familiar.

Raised in rural Missouri, I have a soft spot for wide, blue skies, Dolly Parton and tomatoes from a garden.

I worked in advertising as a writer and creative director in New York City for over a decade. I have also spent some time at the UN as a speechwriter. I’ve written scripts for Tina Fey and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, only one of which was funny.

I am the author and illustrator of the children’s book Elephants Make Fine Friends (Penguin 2015). And I am, above all things, a reader.

I am currently at work on a novel.

I sometimes play the banjo.

I also like to make things.

Stories. Paintings. Movies. Popcorn. Friends. Lists. Cloud animals. Lemonade from the most stubborn and sour of lemons. And above all things, I like to make trouble. 

You can find some of my melancholy animal prints for sale here.

You can find t-shirts and mugs and other fun stuff with my animals here.

I have received fellowships from the Wurlitzer Foundation, MacDowell, Hedgebrook, UCROSS, the Millay Colony and Ledig House International.

I have studied with the legendary Amy Hempel at the Johns Hopkins Summer Workshop, the fabulous Karen Shepard at the Tin House Summer Workshop and have been an associate artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts with the wonderful Megan Kelso.