Meet the Author
I’ve been writing stories since I could hold a pencil. When I was very young, my mom and I would hole up in our rooms, write stories and poems, and then emerge to eat cookies and read each other what we’d written.
I’ve loved dogs for just as long, and apparently I passed that on to my kids in utero. My daughter’s first word was not Mama or Dada. It was dog.
(About the sweatshirt in the photo: I didn’t go to Berkeley, but my Other Half did.)
What’s your story? Are you a writer, too? Dog-friend? Click on the button below and tell me your thoughts. (If, like me, you’re not keen on being told what to do by a random stranger on the internet, live dangerously: send me a message by carrier pigeon. Or donkey. I like donkeys.)
I’ve written for adults:
The poem A Pilot’s Ponderings was shortlisted by The Phare literary magazine in March 2022
A Brief Affair was published in Flash Fiction Magazine in August 2021
Thaumaturgy was accepted for publication by Amplify in 2021
Brillig is a blog with musings on life, love, hope, and sadness (more on that below): www.dragonpepper38.com
Jaysus, MooMoo, and Paul, a novel excerpt, received honorable mention from Glimmertrain
Minor Miracles was awarded a prize from Oregon Writers Colony
A Good Man was longlisted by Fish Publishing
I also enjoy writing for kids:
The Unfairy Tales:
A tactless peasant girl, a kingdomless king, an enchanted bear, a diminutive dragon, and a less than perfect boy battle the evil Wamlock. Their story is read by Amanda and her friends, fifth grade girls looking for a break from the reality of geography tests, Clarence the Bug-Eyed Creep, and family crises. Their lives intersect mysteriously with the lives of the fairy-tale characters, leaving the girls to wonder whether there isn't some magic at work after all. (Upper middle grade fiction - 10 to 12 years old)
Brillig: A story of friendship, prejudice, and pandemic - a dragon pox spread from dragons to people and even unicorns! (Also upper middle grade fiction, an online collaborative story that was taken down upon completion).
As mentioned above, Brillig is now the site of a blog (“Food for Thought”) for adults, however if you scroll down on the home page you can still see The Story, as well as a Statement of Inclusivity.
In the works: Penelope, the story of a thirteen-year-old girl who loses her voice when tragedy strikes, and finds it again when visiting relatives in Ireland, through the magic of the Coinín.
And there have been countless stories for nieces and nephews until they grew too old for my stories…