I’m not quite sure where my love of all things Russian comes from. Even though I’m from the Midwest, I’ve always suspected I might be inhabited by a Slavic soul. I majored in Russian as an undergraduate then taught at St. Sergius, a now defunct private Russian Orthodox school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. While there, I got to know quite a few White Russians. Eventually, my language skills landed me freelance work as an interpreter for the State Department. Now, I teach Special Education English in an urban high school in Columbus, Ohio.

Writing also transports me to other places and times. If that’s you too, let’s journey together. 

 

• William Faulkner/William Wisdom Literary Competition: Second Runner Up
• Longlist, Page Turner Awards for Rent a Fairy (More about that later) 
• Finalist, Page Turner Awards, for The Romanovs Wish You Health in the New Year and Half Caribou Man
• Hidden River Arts Eludia Award: Finalist
• ABNA Breakthrough Novel Competition: Quarterfinalist
• Dzanc Prize for Fiction: Longlist
• Black Lawrence Press Big Moose Prize: Longlist
• Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction: Finalist
• Glimmer Train’s Short Story Award for New Writers: Finalist