Biography and Writing Highlights

I am an author (mainly for children and young adults), a writer (mainly about food and people), and a storyteller (for anyone who will listen). 

I am also a Bay Area native who still waves the California flag proudly. In 2005 I graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a degree in Human Development. A few years after college I fulfilled my preschool career goal and earned a second degree in Baking and Pastry Arts from the Professional Culinary Institute*. 

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Though baking and pastry did not win as my chosen career (as it turns out, I’m really not a morning person), attending culinary school was anything but for naught. Through school I discovered a passion for the stories and people behind our food. That passion lead to a career as an award-winning freelance food writer (and the chance to enjoy some incredible meals and libations with industry leaders and legends). And it was my (albeit short-lived) time in the professional baking world — experiencing firsthand the sweat, drama, and elegance — that inspired my middle-grade novel, Ballerina Baker.

I hold firmly to the belief that a person is only as good as their words, and I want mine to be entertaining. And grammatically correct. 

Writing Career Highlights

  • Awards. Nationally and locally-published, award-winning food writer

    • Four-time recipient, 1st place, San Francisco Press Club Columnist Award, 2016-2019

  • Mentorships. 

    • Molly O’Neill. Mentored for five years by the late, renowned New York Times writer and award-winning author.

    •  Diana Lopez. My current manuscript, a Middle Grade contemporary fiction manuscript, was selected for the 2019 SCBWI Nevada Chapter Mentor Program. Ms. Lopez selected my manuscript for mentorship. 

  • SCBWI. An active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and a rigorous critique group. Through SCBWI I have attended numerous conferences, seminars and webinars so that I may soak up every opportunity to learn and grow. 

*Minor point of clarification: the school was bought (and renamed) by the French Culinary Institute a few years after I graduated. A few years after that, the school closed. But I promise, no matter what Google says, it was a real school when I went there.