I was born and raised in the heart of South Dakota, the first of five siblings to be experimentally homeschooled. I'm crazy about peanut butter and this awesome dish my mom makes called Cheeseburger Casserole. I play piano, am trying to teaching myself violin and dabble in composing my own music. I teach the high school Sunday School class at my church and ultimately try to live a life that's pleasing to God.
My writer's journey probably started somewhere around the age of eight or nine when a simple homework assignment turned into a twelve chapter book project. I was encouraged at first but later was made to put it away until my other homework assignments were finished because the story was consuming all my time. It was probably around the time I got caught making notes for that story in the back of a math notebook that I decided I was going to be a writer, no matter what.
Since then, I've tried learning as much as I can about the craft. While fiction is my first love, I make my living as a weekly newspaper journalist. Despite having no formal education in journalism, I was awarded the 2009 Outstanding Young Journalist by the South Dakota Newspaper Association at the age of 19 and was honored as the 2017 recipient of the national Public Notice Journalism Award by the Public Notice Resource Center for an investigative piece that shines a light on the importance of public notice publications. Over the course of my nearly 10-year career, I've earned various other state journalism writing and design awards.
Since then, I've tried learning as much as I can about the craft. While fiction is my first love, I make my living as a weekly newspaper journalist. Despite having no formal education in journalism, I was awarded the 2009 Outstanding Young Journalist by the South Dakota Newspaper Association at the age of 19 and was honored as the 2017 recipient of the national Public Notice Journalism Award by the Public Notice Resource Center for an investigative piece that shines a light on the importance of public notice publications. Over the course of my nearly 10-year career, I've earned various other state journalism writing and design awards.
As it says in Proverbs 25:11, "An idea well-expressed is like a design of gold, set in silver."
This website is to chronicle my writer's journey, offer any tips and tricks of the trade that I pick up along the way, and to connect with other writers and readers. If you have any questions or just want to chat, be sure to contact me!
This website is to chronicle my writer's journey, offer any tips and tricks of the trade that I pick up along the way, and to connect with other writers and readers. If you have any questions or just want to chat, be sure to contact me!
Thanks for stopping by and please come back often!
