The Early Years: I was born in Chicago but grew up in the endless sunshine of southern California. From age 5 up until I left home at 18, I worked every weekend at various swap meets. I sold everything from black santa clause dolls to kitchen utensils to women's clothing. Not a typical childhood, I suppose, but it resulted in my spending a lot of that time watching the range of humanity pass by. Most every weekend I would buy a brand new spiral notebook. You know the kind, 50 pages, light blue college ruled lines. When business was slow I would fill these notebooks with stories and ideas for my own amusement.

The College Years: The fascination with people eventually won out and I put fiction aside to go off to college, studying first psychology, then linguistics, and then psycholinguistics. And yes, I am a college drop out. Sadly, once you drop out, they don't reinstate your scholarships when you realize what an ass you've been. I went back anyway, eventually earning a Bachelor's degree with a special Major in psycholinguistics from the California State University of Northridge. Then, off to the psych department at Kansas State University where I did original research on the nature of semantic representation and human memory. After almost four years they handed me a doctorate and sent me on my way.

The Professorial Years: I moved on to Florida, where at the tender age of 27 I was the youngest faculty member at New College. Two years later, lured by more money and cooler climes, I took a job at Lake Forest College, just north of the city of Chicago. I remained there for two years. In January of 1993 I found myself in Philadelphia, teaching at Chestnut Hill College, a small, Catholic, liberal arts college for women, and stayed for a few years. I then spent a year at West Chester University and Widener University as adjunct faculty.

Nowadays: When I'm not writing, I pay my bills by working as a consultant, primarily as the Director of Research for the Wedge Medical Center, a mental health and drug/alcohol rehabilitation agency with facilities throughout Philadelphia.

last update: October 22, 2004