I’ve been a writer since I could make legible marks on paper. There’s a wall in my parent’s old house with a story written in magic marker under the wallpaper (I think I was six). In college, I tried to convince myself I was a doctor. That turned out to be helpful when I finally switched gears and went to grad school, and everyone in the journalism department mistakenly thought I was some kind of genius because I’d majored in biology (liberal arts people have a fear of the science). After that, I moved back to Reno, worked for a local news station, and then. . . I got sick.
I basically burned out my poor little body with too much pizza, too many alcoholic beverages, and too little sleep. Combine that with a Type-A, overachiever personality, and then throw in terrible work hours, the flu, and a car accident, and what do you get? Fibromyalgia. Yes, I have the lame, waste-basket disease that they even made fun of on Glee. I also have a cute little facial nerve pain that’s a lot like trigeminal neuralgia, which is known historically for its tendency to make people jump off of buildings…
Anyway, if you’re interested in delving into all of that horror, you can check out what I’ve written about chronic pain. Or you can check out my Tumblr Page, The Window Pain. I explain why I put that together here.
I have two kids: a son, Newt (11), and a daughter, Elfie (9). Those aren’t their real names. I’m not that crazy. Newt was diagnosed with high-functioning autism/Asperger’s Syndrome at age 3, and he’s since tested off the spectrum. I’ve written about how I think we helped make some of that happen. My husband, Tenzin, is an ER doctor who’s going into pain management. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out why he got interested in that. And we have a Lab/Finnish Lapphund named Jasper who likes to eat wood.
Way back in the dark ages, I was a freelance journalist and television news producer (it’s why I get testy when people don’t use factual facts). My work’s been published by In the Powder Room, Mamapedia, The Cosumnes River Journal, Women’s World Magazine, and The Reno Gazette Journal. BlogHer honored me as one of their 2011 Voices of the Year. I’ve been a discussion leader for MomsLikeMe.com, a guest commentator for News 4 Forum, and a guest host for the Chip Evans Show.
I’m in the middle of a novel that you will NOT be able to put down if you start –it’s way more fun than 50 Shades of Grey. I love to draw silly comics. And I’ve written several children’s books. You can read My Mama Worked for Obama here. As for the others? Well, I’m workin’ on it…