I'm a freelance writer living near Rockford, Ill., which is 80 miles west of Chicago. Prior to starting my freelance career in 1992, I worked as a daily newspaper reporter for the Rockford Register Star, a medium-sized Gannett daily; as a magazine editor and writer for the now-defunct Rockford Magazine, also owned by Gannett; and as a television news producer for WTVO-TV, the NBC affiliate in Rockford, Ill.

I hold a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, where I majored in English and minored in journalism.

My freelance work in recent years has been for a mix of newspapers and magazines. I've written education-related articles for the National Council of Teachers of English's member magazine, The Council Chronicles, and have written a variety of business stories for Crain's Chicago Business magazine. I wrote a childhood obesity package for Knight-Ridder Tribune, which was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and which was picked up by many national newspapers and websites, ranging from the Miami Herald to the Philadelphia Inquirer to the San Jose Mercury News. I've also written extensively for the Chicago Tribune, including numerous full-length cover features for the now-defunct Health & Family section, and also have contributed lengthy features to the Womanews and Tempo sections. An article I wrote about adoption for the Chicago Tribune was picked up for reprint in the Contemporary Issues Companion series called Adoption, published by Thomson Gale in 2006.

Additionally, I've written many computer and technology articles for Smart Computing magazine and its affiliated publications; for Sales & Marketing Strategies and News magazine; and for websites such as Newmedia.com and Infoapps.com.

Please see the Articles section of this website for samples of my writing.

My most recent project is "Tilli's Story: My Thoughts Are Free," a memoir I wrote for a woman who grew up in a small East German farming village during World War II and the subsequent Russian occupation. The book recently won an honorable mention in the memoir category from the Independent Publishers Association. The book was selected by iUniverse for its exclusive Star imprint in 2005. In support of this book, I speak along with the book's subject to many different kinds of groups throughout Illinois and Wisconsin, ranging from teacher associations to schools to book clubs. I am available to speak about the craft of memoir-writing and tips to make self-publishing work for you.

I look forward to hearing from you!