It’s been a wild ride!

Born and raised in Southern California, I am a beach girl top to bottom. In fact, if I’m as much as 25 miles away from the ocean, I swear my skin starts to itch. For me, there’s no such thing as being too close to the water.

I started keeping a diary when I was six, and switched to serious journaling when I turned twelve. At 18, I burned all my journals, which seemed like a better idea than the possibility of peering eyes of parents or ex-boyfriends.

I moved to Hawaii for perspective – as well as to meditate, surf, swim, and explore the rain forests. After a couple of years, island fever and a broken relationship drove me back to the west coast. In any case, I was ready to further my education.

Through OCC and Humboldt State, I sailed further south, completed a BA Literature at UCSD a BFA Magna Cum Lude, in Visual Communications at Laguna College of Art and Design, and a Certificate in Professional Screenwriting from UCLA.

I’m a past exhibitor at Laguna Beach Festival of Arts and have earned several awards for writing, photography and design, including designation as the Best Columnist by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. The National Resources Defense Council honored me with a Gold Award for ELEMENTS, and my screenplay, “Chasing the Blue,” was a runner up with the Texas Film Association.

“The Spotty Truth,” a humorous personal essay on the vagaries of growing up a sun-worshiper, was published by MORE magazine. “Just ‘cuz Fishing,” was included in PRESS PAUSE MOMENTS, ESSAYS ABOUT LIFE TRANSITIONS BY WOMEN WRITERS.

A recent essay, published by a Coast Magazine and the OC Register, “When the Homeless Man is your Son,” went viral on their website. The essay forms the core of my memoir, THE MAN INSIDE MY SON, currently in revision.

I sit on the board of Eco-Alianza de Loreto, A.C., in Baja California, Mexico, where protection of education about and protection of the environment are our core concerns. I’m also an advisor to THE OCEAN FOUNDATION in Washington, D.C.

Spare time? Surfing whenever possible – and if no waves, then a SUP board will do just fine.  I’ve got a retreat home in Baja that serves as a second adventuring base.

Two marriages.  Two divorces.  Two grown sons. A dog who changed my life.

A wild ride to get here … and I wouldn’t change one minute.