At heart, I think I’ve always been a farmer, but it has taken me a while to come full circle. My siblings and I grew up in Rye, New Hampshire on a small homestead farm, complete with vegetable garden, fruit trees, and lots of dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, geese, sheep, goats, rabbits, and—most important to me—horses. I spent my teens training horses, competing at horse shows, and teaching horseback riding, a career I continued after graduating from college. Things changed with the arrival of my children, who I knew would need more financial security than any horse business could provide. So, off to law school I went.

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       As a trial lawyer, I represented both plaintiffs (clients who bring lawsuits) as well as defendants (clients who have been sued). My cases involved everything from civil rights, accidents, and professional malpractice to employment disputes, theft of trade secrets, and even endangered species smuggling! I didn’t know it then, but the people, places, and conflicts I encountered gave me a wealth of material to draw upon as a storyteller.

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     After I retired from practicing law, I returned to my farming roots and started growing fruits and vegetables on my husband’s family farm in Goffstown, NH (in continuous operation by the Shirley family since 1762!) After years of selling produce at my farmstand and local farmers’ markets, I converted the operation to a CSA—a cooperative model where growers and consumers share the risks and rewards of farming. (For more information on how a CSA works, click here.) Although the job pushed me to my physical limit, farming the land fed my spirit. I will never again take for granted the farmers of the world who devote their lives to putting food on our tables.

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       In 2004, Benedikt Dairy opened their Grade A raw milk dairy on our farm and took over and expanded my CSA beyond my wildest imagination! That left me time to pursue yet another of my dreams. I obtained my MFA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and begin writing fiction for middle-grade children.

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       Why children?

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       Because, as Margaret Fuller famously said almost 200 years ago, “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”

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For a recent Interview, click here.