She was unsure which way to go. So, at first, she went nowhere. Fear, her constant companion, held her back in its tight arms. She dreamed & dreamed of living more alive. One day, her heart said, “Start with love,” (for it was a wise heart, as hearts tend to be). So she drew free-hand, shakily, the small simple things she loved, and painted them with every color she had in her little paint set. It was imperfect which made it beautiful. So she did it again…and again…and life became a crooked path which she followed because it was honest and it was hers. Fear, her old friend, came along for the ride (forever saying, “Are we there yet?”). “No,” she learned to tell it, “Not Yet,” as she stopped to look at the sky, or the sea, or a little weed that grew. And she just breathed…
About my journey
I have a multi-decade career as a writer and illustrator of twenty-five gift books, which have sold over a million copies. I’ve also published fiction, poetry and narrative non-fiction and designed hundreds of cards for several national stationery companies.
I created a wholesale stationery business in 1992 called How to Live®, and I sold my products to over eight hundred retail accounts in the U.S., the Caribbean, England and Australia and online to tens of thousands of individuals. I’ve licensed my artwork to several national companies and designed everything from menus at Red Lobster to wrapping paper for Target. In 2001, I opened a retail store, also called How to Live®, to sell my own products, and in in 2010, I opened a second location. These store reach hundreds of thousands of customers yearly.
I have a B.A. from Hamilton College where I graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. I have an M.A. in English from Duke University and an M.A. from Rider University in Counseling. I’ve received many awards for my writing including The Crime Writer’s Association Debut Dagger Award and a N.J. State Council on the Arts grant.
