About Me: writer
I am the author of 21 children's books and a historical fiction, OF WIND AND DUST, that will launch on February 23, 2027. This novel was inspired by the same family encountered in my best-known children’s book, RUBY’S WISH, an Ezra Jack Keats Award winner. The launch of that book had Publishers Weekly include me on a list of “new authors to watch” — several years and two feature articles later, I made it to their front cover as the founding goose of Goosebottom Books. You can take a look at some of my books here.
You can find out much more about my novel in the section Books of this website. But the book is closely connected to me as a human being, because it was inspired in part by my great-great-great-grandmother, pictured here, a Suquamish or Duwamish woman who married the first Chinese in Seattle (indeed in the whole of Washington Territory) and ended up moving to China.
My Suquamish and/or Duwamish great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Carey.
You can find out more about my family history and the nonfiction behind the fiction by clicking to download this fact sheet:
More behind-the-scenes glimpses as I researched this book are to be found in early posts of Writing Life, and here in this History Café presentation (Recording No. 34) I gave on behalf of the Seattle Museum of History and Industry, the Seattle Room of Seattle Public Library, and HistoryLink.org.
editor and retreat leader
When I'm not writing, I am an editor, writing coach, and writing retreat leader. I've been dubbed a "tiger editor" independently by two of my clients, because I give tough developmental edits. (They did come back!)
For those who don't like tough, there are my writing retreats. These are four- or seven-night stays in beautiful and secluded surroundings, with most meals included, and libations poured every evening when we gather to share and discuss our work, and to give and receive feedback. There is nothing, I believe, like writing in community. These few days can be the most productive of the year.
You can find notices of upcoming retreats here, and sign up to be on the notification list if a spot becomes available.
Classes and speaking engagements
And finally, I teach. I have private students in facilitated writers’ groups, several of whom are now published. I have also taught writing and publishing at the NSW Writers’ Center in Australia, the AFCC in Singapore, the Writing Salons in San Francisco and Berkeley, for eight American universities including Stanford’s Continuing Studies Program, and for writing conferences such as the Mendocino Coast Writers' Conference, Write On The Sound, the Michigan Writing Workshop, the San Diego Writing Workshop, the Australian Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators National Conference, and the Book Passage Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference. Occasionally I also speak on behalf of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation about the importance of diversity in children’s literature, a topic close to my heart.
Contact Me
Feel free to reach out if you're interested in booking a speaking engagement or some developmental editing. If my schedule is full, I'd be happy to recommend one of my many editor friends who might be appropriate. I am also available for consultations via Zoom, for which I charge $200/hour, during which time you can pick my brain and my rolodex.
In the meantime, happy writing and I hope our journeys overlap!