Publications and Honors

I am an award-winning writer and the co-author of A 52-HERTZ WHALE, a young adult novel released by Lerner Publishing in 2015 that was short-listed for an ALA Schneider Family Award and a finalist for the Green Earth Award. Currently, I am working on a historical novel inspired by my family’s encounters with fascism in Italy during World War II. An initial draft of this manuscript was honored with a 2015 Rona Jaffe Writer’s Award. 

My fiction and creative nonfiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including TriQuarterly, Kaleidoscope Magazine, Santa Clara Review, and Cicada (Carus Publishing). Honors include first prize for fiction in The Atlantic’s Student Writing Contest in 2011 and runner-up for a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Magazine Merit Award. 

I received a MFA from Rainier Writing Workshop and taught numerous classes in creative writing and writing-to-publish at University of Chicago. When I am not teaching or working on my own creative writing, I help other writers develop their own work. Previous clients have gone on to publish their projects, winning awards that include Lambda Literary Award and Oregon Book Award. 

Currently, I live in Glenview, IL with my husband, kids, and a very friendly cockapoo.