I’m a North Dakota woman married to a man from the Netherlands. We’ve lived and worked on four of this beautiful planet’s continents. I’ve always been a reader of books but didn’t come to writing till I was in my forties.

My first publications were essays about living in Zambia and were published in various journals locally and later nationally.

My first book, So Many Africas: Six Years in a Zambian Village, (Autumn House Press) came out in 2015 and won both the Autumn House Prize and the Sarton Women’s Literary Award. It is now available in paperback, e-book, and in audio format!

My next book, The Clean Daughter: A Cross-Continental Memoir, was published by NDSU Press. It is available only in hardback at this time.  

I love knitting, reading, hiking, acrylic paining, book binding, cooking vegetarian and vegan dishes, and bird watching. Flowers and strange vegetables make me happy.

In 2021, I suffered from a life altering brain injury. I am currently writing about that experience and working on a third memoir.