My love affair with books began the day I learned how to read.  The first words I read completely on my own were the No Parking signs that stood sentry along the road from my elementary school to within sight of my house.  It was a magical experience, and I have been bewitched by words ever since.  I read all genres, and some of my favorite authors are Sidney Sheldon, Patricia Cornwell, Robert Jordan, Clive Cussler, Dean Koontz, George R.R. Martin, Mary Higgins Clark, J.D. Robb, and still more others that I could name.

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My first experience using language for something more than homework assignments was with poetry.  I was twelve.  I was swept away by meter and rhyme scheme, by consonance and alliteration.  My favorite poets include Robert Frost and Cynthia Cruz.

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For over twenty years I have been playing with language, and my fiction writing is heavily influenced by my poetry background.  I write mostly literary fiction, but I love genre work and I would like to experiment with writing those stories. I have a BA in English-Creative Writing from Indiana University-South Bend and I will graduate with my MA in English in May 2016.