I’ve had a lifelong love affair with words–reading, writing, listening. The fact that little pen scratches on a page (or pixels on a screen!) come together to create a story–real or imaginary–is a miracle as far as I’m concerned. I worked for several years in a bookstore where finding just the right book to put into a customer’s hands was magic, and for over twenty-five years I taught high school English in West Michigan where every day I had the privilege to share my love of literature and writing with students. I also write about books(and life!) on my blog This Is My Symphony where I review books– primarily mid-list fiction. But wherever I come across them–for work or pleasure reading–the characters I’ve read through the years are as real to me as you are.
Amherst Writers & Artists is a writing organization that supports practiced and emerging voices through a proven workshop method and is founded on the belief that everyone is a writer. In 2016 I was introduced to the Amherst Writers and Artists method at a local writing studio, Voice and Vessel, in 2017 I became trained in the method, and today I lead workshops in the greater Grand Rapids area.
The experience has been transformative–writing with this method has given me the confidence to write my own stories and has allowed me to give voice to some characters I’ve had in my head for years. It’s also just plain fun!