is a freelance writer and a creative writing workshop instructor for kids. Her story "Limb by Limb" was a semifinalist for Ruminate's William Van Dyke Prize; "All He Left" won first place in Gotham Writers' Very Short Story Contest; and "The Scent of Rain on Dry Earth" is forthcoming in the Chautauqua Literary Journal. Represented by Maria Carvainis Agency, her novel, The Promise of Water, was named winner of the Caledonia Novel Award and has been recognized by the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, the Columbus Creative Cooperative, and the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two children.