BRAVE WRITER - Key Persons
It began on my grandmother's lap, a tender devotion to storytelling. Here I learned that stories are the salve and literature, the language of love. Traveling together to faraway worlds, I now gather my own children close to recount those tales of adventure and reveal the hidden treasure of a good book.
My love of language has been a constant in my life since I was a little girl reading YA fantasy novels and taking spelling quizzes for fun. My adorable cat is named Ampersand Etcetera for exactly this reason!
I remember taking a little over a month off towards the end of 2019 to visit (and revisit) parts of Asia and Oceania. Earlier that year, I'd decided I wanted to commit to writing as a profession, though I still wasn't sure what that would look like in practice. In the interest of getting the most out of my travels and marrying the time away with my recent professional decision, I ran a quick Google search for "5 Books to Read Before Going to ________" for every country I intended to visit. I'd never been so proactive about seeking out literature as a form of inspiration.
When I was a child, I imagined writers sat in cozy pillowed nooks while pouring out endless cups of tea and rivers of words, probably with purring cats curled up in their laps. In my real writing life, there haven't been too many cozy nooks, and though I once had a cat, she preferred biting over purring. My career has included projects as divergent as freelance magazine writing, translating ad copy, writing technical manuals, teaching conversational English over the phone, copy editing transcripts of legislative proceedings, and food blogging, to name a few. Instead of curling me into a quiet corner, writing has brought me out into the world to chase ideas and connect with other people. I'm always happy for a hot cup of coffee with cream, though, and one day I'll figure out where I can make a cozy reading nook in my small house.
I hold Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English Literature, and learning about composition theory at the post-secondary level broadened my understanding of writing, helping me to see how we all are communicators capable of effective writing. As an educator, I have taught Writing Studies at the university level and, more recently, had the privilege of learning alongside homeschoolers, both my own kids at home and teenaged extended family.
While I was deciding to leave my university teaching job to focus on homeschooling, I found Brave Writer and was thrilled to discover a program and philosophy that mirrored both what I knew intuitively as a writer and had learned about writing pedagogy during my academic career. Countless poetry teatimes, read-alouds, and family writing projects later, it is a joy for me to combine writing and homeschooling from my favorite home base, a battered dining table flanked by books and festooned with colorful pens. My house currently holds two official homeschoolers and a toddler who's along for the ride (and the storytimes).
As a teenager, I encountered the persuasive power of writing well. My parents and I disagreed about whether or not I should attend a family event or a track meet, and, instead of arguing with them, I wrote them a letter. They were convinced and let me choose. Writing provided a canvas on which I could explore complex, controversial, and confusing ideas; I often felt as if I were holding an idea up to the light and rotating it to see the different angles and perspectives through my pen.
I'm a third-decade home educator to five children. From colic to the Common App, diapers to driver's ed, I enjoy the journey and have the wrinkles laugh lines to prove it. We've traipsed on field trips to the Field (Museum), in a field, and far afield. We jot our thoughts along the way, sketch our impressions, and even translate our Tuesday Tea Times to the high school transcript.
I have considered myself a writer since I was 9 years old when I opened a notebook and penned my first diary entry. Since then my life has been infused with the written word, as an avid reader, writer and list maker.
When I was eleven, a poet came to visit my school. He presented the class with an oil painting of a ship in a storm and (after a few pointers) asked us to write a poem about it. I tried to capture the vivid colors and movement of the perilous ocean and compared the buffeted ship to my experience of grief, after the recent passing of my Grandad. When the poet emotionally told me my work was "moving," it caught me by surprise! At eleven, I had made an adult feel something. That was the moment I realized that anyone could be a writer and all writers are powerful.
It has been twenty years since then and I haven't stopped writing. I self-published a collection of poetry and have dipped my toes into other kinds of writing, including novels, short stories and blogs. I tend to write in bursts and always carry a notebook and pencil, just in case. I love to read and many of my hobbies revolve around storytelling, including Tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons. Most of my childhood involved hiding away in nature with a book and very little has changed in adulthood (though often, now, my children are with me!).
After my Bachelor's degree in English and a period of volunteering and working in mainstream education, I began to research alternative ways of learning, hungry for something more than the rigidity of the traditional classroom. Homeschooling felt like the perfect fit for my book-loving, nature-exploring, adventure-seeking family. Both of my kids are home-educated and we spend our days reading aloud, figuring things out, investigating the outdoors and cozying up for Poetry Teatime! I hail from Bristol, UK and now live in Nottingham, UK. I am an LGBTQIA+ parent and when I'm not writing, coaching or home educating, I am usually found out in nature with my family, growing vegetables at our allotment, or curled up with a coffee and a craft project, or a book!
From a young age, I could be found squirreled away in a corner with a library book or a notebook and pen, lost in story. In addition to filling reams of paper with tales of daring and adventure, love and loyalty, I appreciated the experience of sports writing for a local newspaper. Variety is the spice of life!
My earliest writing memory is when my childhood best friend and I co-wrote a novel about a group of cats traveling the country together. I think we got about ten pages down before quitting, but the spark that started that book has stayed with me ever since. I wrote on and off throughout high school, but stopped in college except for classwork in my major, Human Nutrition. Fortunately, I picked writing back up again after I became a mom. Since then my writing has been featured in various magazines, blogs, and websites, but those early writing experiences are still among my fondest.
I hold a B.A. in foreign language education and an M.A. in French with a focus on developing writing and reading skills. I have taught French and Spanish at the middle school, high school, and college levels, and spent a year teaching English to students at the University of Caen in France. When my son finished second grade declaring that his favorite subjects were "recess and dismissal," I decided to switch jobs and became a full-time homeschooler. I currently have two graduated homeschoolers and cheer them on as they pursue their varied interests far from home.
I was born and homeschooled in Texas. My parents began homeschooling back in the dark ages before the internet and when it was barely legal. My childhood was full of play forts, field trips and a bountiful feast of delightful literature. My days were full of space to read, play and create. I am grateful for a brave mama who went against the cultural norm to give me and my two brothers a different experience.
Growing up in a creaky old house overflowing with books, I was enthralled early on with the power of writing. I grew up playing with words - crafting and creating, sculpting and shaping. My parents, both professional writers, served as frequent guides and editors. I earned my B.A. at Westmont College, double majoring in English and Religious Studies.
"Five more minutes, mom!" Or, "I'll turn off the light when I'm done with this chapter!" Such are the refrains of my childhood spent delaying bedtime for the sake of just-a-little-longer in the shared world of an author and their reader
I'm named after a legendary Irish poet who is the hero of an epic poem by another Irish poet so from an early age I felt like I had little choice but to write! Later, when I realized being literary was optional, it was too late-I'd fallen in love with words and the stories they tell. For many years now I've made a living as a writer and have published a couple of novels to boot.
My earliest memory of writing "for fun" instead of for a class assignment was when I was 13 years old, sitting in a friend's attic during the summer, creating sketch comedy shows to perform for our parents. I loved the sound of the audience laughing at a joke I had written, especially when I had rewritten the line several times, hoping to get it just right.
One of my earliest memories is hearing the clickety-clack-clack of my grandmother's typewriter. I was enamored and impressed that she had been able to buy a small plot of land by the sea with her earnings from writing. My grandfather would eventually build their dream on that plot-a summer cottage out of old, dismantled army barracks-a place so special for many generations to come.
Storytelling and books were always a big part of my childhood, and I, too, inherited the writing gene. When I was six, I received my most treasured possession-a typewriter. I whiled away the hours reading and creating endless stories.
My experience with alternative-schooling began when I quit high school to unschool in a tent by the beach (sorry for the anxiety, Mom!). The freedom to follow my every educational whim felt invigorating! I wrote stories and poetry, read my way through feminist lit, worked in a pottery studio, and spent my evenings sketching the ocean.
My mom made the brave choice to homeschool me back in a day when it was near unheard of. She just knew it was the right choice for me! Now-in addition to homeschooling my own daughters-I love helping others experience the joys (and challenges!) of alternative education. I'm a homeschooling consultant for families and businesses and a writer and author of homeschooling books, resources, and curricula.
My favorite tote bag is emblazoned with the phrase "Words Matter." I love words! They can be powerful, profound, delightful, and evocative. Words can build bridges or burn them down. Words can open doors, and hearts, and possibilities. I believe we all have a unique writing voice waiting to make a splash onto the page. It is my privilege to support and cheer my students as they discover theirs.
On a more personal note, I was born and raised in Southern Maryland-an East Coast girl at heart. Life brought me halfway across the nation to a tiny town in North Texas horse country. Simultaneously, life brought my husband halfway across the country (from the other direction) to the same town. We met and got to know one another riding horses through the countryside. Today, we call Northern California home and can be found having grand adventures in the great outdoors with our fierce daughters. When I'm not homeschooling, writing, or coaching, I'm outside playing among the big trees, reading, collecting quotes, or hoarding style guides . . . probably drinking coffee, too.