Each month, I publish a Substack newsletter with:

• What’s New: news about my books, links to recent interviews or
  press coverage.
• What’s Next: what I’ve been working on and when you might get to
  read it.
• What’s Good: Whatever I’ve been enjoying--anything from book,
  music, or movie recommendations to a recipe.
• What’s On My Mind: A little of what I’ve been thinking about;
  sometimes writing related, sometimes not.

• Subscribe to keep up! This is the first place you will see cover reveals,
  preorder and purchase links. It’s also your best chance at seeing some
  of my goofier photos, and I may occasionally send short stories or
  deleted scenes.

A Little Qwerty

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I write contemporary commercial fiction featuring heroines who wrestle their emotional
baggage while maintaining a sense of humor. I’m currently working on The Shakespeare
Project, a series of novels that reimagines Shakespeare’s comedies as contemporary
rom-coms, with a focus on highlighting the inner emotional lives of the heroines.

I’m an active member of the Author's Guild, Women's Fiction Writer's Association, and
the Pacific Northwest Author's Association, where my books have twice been recognized
as contest finalists. I hold a certificate in Popular Fiction from the University of
Washington, as well as a BA in English from Whitman College and a Master's in Library
and Information Science, also from the University of Washington. My day job is in local
government, but I've also worked as an academic librarian and freelance pop culture
writer.

My hobbies include barely running (I’ve completed ten half marathons, slowly), cooking
and baking, hiking, and relaxed travel. When I’m not writing, I can often be found cozied
up with a book (follow me on Instagram to hear about what I’ve been reading), eating
fancy cheese, shopping for fancy cheese, or cooking with fancy cheese. I live in the
Seattle suburbs with my spouse and two high-maintenance cats, next door to my sister
and a very silly dog. My love language is jokes.

About

This snappy, funny, and realistic enemies to lovers rom-com is a modern
retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing spun into a small-town
college romance--with a twist.

Beatrice is a stubborn, no-nonsense astronomy professor at a small college in
wine country. While working toward her tenure, she spends an inordinate
amount of time avoiding Ben, an annoying librarian she believes wronged her
when they were students.

Her younger cousin Heron is a wistful senior in college. The opposite of
Beatrice, she is a hopeless romantic. After Heron’s boyfriend proposes on a
magical night at her father’s winery, Bea is worried her younger cousin is
making a mistake. Heron responds to Bea’s criticism with a matchmaking
scheme designed to show Bea the upside of romance. Bea and Ben become the
subjects of an opposites-attract experiment, while Heron begins to question
whether marriage is the right choice.

Heron’s world comes crashing down when she is at the center of a campus
scandal. As Heron and Bea deal with the fallout, each finds herself questioning
everything she thought she knew about the best course for the future.
Eventually, each woman must make a choice: Bea between the comfortable role
of merry spinster or a fulfilling partnership; Heron between marriage or
reaching for a new dream.

Out now!

A contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

Rosalind is an advice columnist who is far more comfortable fixing other people’s
problems than dealing with her own. She writes a popular advice column in a
magazine, passed down by her recently deceased mother. When she butts heads
with her editor over a letter response, she loses her job and inherited byline—the
only things holding back the full weight of her grief.

To keep writing advice, Rosalind establishes a fake identity with a male pen name
at the dubious suggestion of her friends, retreating to a small town on the water.
She starts an advice column for a local newspaper using her new pseudonym.

The unexpected online success of her new column exacerbates her penchant for
unsolicited meddling. This threatens to damage her relationships with family and
friends.

It also complicates her budding romance with ruggedly handsome travel television
star Andy Arden. He’s gorgeous, he’s outdoorsy, and he writes her (terrible)
poetry. But he also thinks “Gavin,” the guy giving him relationship advice via text,
and his new love interest are two different people…

Rosalind juggles it all because her advice is always right. Usually right. Would you
settle for sometimes right? Can she outgrow her game-playing and confront her
grief in time to untangle the mess she’s made of her personal and professional life?

Coming in July

News, Reviews & Interviews

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