I am originally from Philadelphia, PA but grew up also in New York and Connecticut. In 2005 I moved to California. There, among other things, I earned an MFA in fiction from the University of California, Irvine and taught both fiction and composition classes. In 2010 I moved to Seattle and have been teaching at Highline College since that point.

My English 101 class uses Samuel Cohen's anthology "50 Essays" as its central text. Our course theme is Storytelling. In this class you will learn how to tell your own story, as well as discovering why to tell your story. You will learn how to think analytically about your own life, and will respond to texts with your own personal narrative material rather than with research.

My online and hybrid English 101 classes also use John Trimble's book "Writing With Style." This is a writing handbook that goes much beyond teaching simple rules. It's been a faithful companion of mine since I first read it myself in college!

In all versions of the class, we read approximately 10 essays ranging in length from 3 pages to 12 pages. In total, we write about 25-30 pages (not all at once, of course!)

My creative writing classes address three genres: short fiction, poetry, and stage drama. Primarily, we examine the elements of craft pertaining to each of these genres and uncover how to create effective, stylish stories, poems, and plays. We write a lot in this class as well!

I hope to see you on board in one or more of these classes!