The Latest

Delighted to share my new "FLARE Focus" essay, The Second Lady as Understudy: Apprenticing the Role Before Ascending to the First Lady Mainstage. These peer-reviewed essays provide insights about the contributions, lives and legacies of US First Ladies through the First Ladies Association for Research and Education. 

Read my new article in East Wing Magazine, So It Seems, Audiences Demand Encores When It Comes to First Ladies. What a labor of love blending two of my favorites: First Ladies and theatre!

Excited to begin my upcoming six-week Writing Barn training, Picture Book Biographies I: Style and Substance, with acclaimed picture book biography author Rob Sanders!  I've got just the right PB biography in mind for this class. And, it will be my first PB biography so I'm beyond thrilled to get it started on the right foot.  

Forever thankful that one of my critique group partners encouraged me to participate in Tara Lazar's StoryStorm 2025. 31 ideas in 31 days -- through the month of January. "It will blow your mind!" Guess what? It did! Though all 31 of my new ideas may not make the cut, I feel like half of them are contenders. Great way to kick off the new year of writing PBs! #motivated

Pleased to announce that I have become a "Reimagine Insider" - that is, a member of Kirsten Larsen's group of nonfiction writers focused on refining the writing craft, honing skills and telling the story of one's heart in the best way possible. A talented and successful author, Kirsten brings great passion, knowledge and expertise to the world of writing children's nonfiction books. It's one of the best things I've done in 2024. Kirsten Larsen is inspiring!

Elated to announce I’ve finally joined the 12 X 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge! With a little (OK maybe more than a little) nudging from one of my critique group partners, I’m officially a member. Now I’m obsessed with the discussion forum and need to get back to writing! Which, of course, is the point of 12 X 12!

Stay tuned for more information on my scholarly book debut as a contributing author. Thrilled to report this new book on US First Ladies will be published next year by University Press of Kansas.

Attended the White House Historical Association's Presidential Sites Summit for the first time. (I'm in the photo above, second from right.) What a thrill it was to attend alongside my FLARE colleagues. We also celebrated the debut of the nation's first college textbook on First Ladies, "U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies," written by Diana Carlin, Anita McBride and Nancy Kegan Smith. 

Shared my experience with Michael Paulson, theater reporter at the New York Times, in "Hitting Theater Hard: The Loss of Subscribers Who Went to Everything." Read my post-pandemic approach to buying subscriptions. 

Pinch me! I'm going to Tuscany for Adria Goetz's The Art of Picture Book Writing, a workshop for picture book writers in June.  

It's official. I've got a contract! I make my scholarly book debut as a contributing author in 2025.