I’ve been a reader and a writer as long as I can remember. A quintessential bookworm, I was the kid who begged to do a book report instead of an experiment when the annual science fair rolled around. My favorite time of year was when the bookmobile visited our school. I can still picture myself inside the trailer, gazing wide-eyed at all of the selections on display. So many books, so little time…When I became a mom, volunteering at my daughters’ schools for the annual book fair was like Christmas to me, and I was probably the only parent who looked forward to the Scholastic Book Clubs’ newsletters with the same amount of enthusiasm as one would feel when receiving a tax refund!

As I moved into my teenage years, I became obsessed with magazines. I had a letter to the editor published in Teen Magazine one year and thought my journalistic ticket was written! Each fall,
I eagerly anticipated Seventeen’s back-to-school issue and begged my mom for all the cool clothes featured inside. So it came as no surprise that after pounding the pavement for years as a freelancer, I became an editor for Lehigh Valley Marketplace and Lehigh Valley Good Taste magazines where I worked for several years.

Shortly after the tragic events of 9/11 that rocked our nation, I founded a neighborhood book club to foster a sense of community, and continued faciliating book club discussions for the next 20 years. My article, “Seven Tips for a Successful Book Club,” placed in the Top 100 in the Magazine Feature Article category in the 2011 Writer’s Digest’s Writing Competition.

I’m the host of the podcast Bloom Where You Are Planted where I talk to authors and experts who show us how to be the best versions of ourselves, even when life gets in the way. My one-year podcast anniversary guest was television icon Joan Lunden.

My Substack newsletter, The Reading Life, offers inspiration and observations based on the books I read and the authors I meet and to date has more than 200 subscribers.

Over the years, I’ve also had the pleasure of interviewing bestselling author Adriana Trigiani, world-renowned meditation teacher Bob Roth, and Springsteen photogrpaher Nicki Germaine.

I’ve also worked in fundraising and development, raising money for organizations such as Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York, and Chadwick Residence, a women’s transitional housing facility in Syracuse, New York. I was also instrumental in developing a community presentation titled "Confronting the Opioid Epidemic" which was presented as a panel discussion in the Finger Lakes region of New York and was received with much success.

In 2021, the lifelong learner in me went back to school to obtain a certificate in Wellness Counseling from Cornell University and as a result, I began doing mini-retreats and women’s wellness programs, incorporating journaling and meditation techniques that I found helpful to me during stressful times.

Later that same year, I stepped into one of the most rewarding roles of my life: being a grandmother. I now have two grandchildren and it’s already apparent that they will grow to love books and reading as much as I have. I feel truly blessed to be able to balance the creative work that I do while also being an inspiration to these two amazing little ones.

I hope you’ll explore my website to learn more about me, the projects I enjoy and take pride in, and the services I offer.

Thanks for visiting!

My podcasting skills came in handy in January 2020 when I had the opportunity to "Be the Boss" on Sirius XM’s “E Street Radio,” the Bruce Springsteen channel.
I filled out their DJ show outline, which included a request for five Springsteen songs: one of which I had to claim as my favorite--which, as any loyal fan knows,
is nearly impossible--as well as the story behind my favorite song, what my favorite concert memory was, and how I got hooked on "The Boss." I recorded the song breaks, submitted the info in late December of 2019 and forgot about it over the holidays. Shortly after the New Year, I received an email that my application had been approved. What a great way to start off 2020! Is moonlighting as a DJ in my future? Absolutely not. But was it fun? Hell, yes!