My Bio

I grew up in a Jewish family with an activist mom and philosopher dad in a racially and ethnically diverse inner city neighborhood. I have had several career stages, beginning as a painter, showing minimalist work in galleries in Seattle.  I attended graduate school at U.C. Berkeley in art, and there began working in experimental narrative via film and video.  This led to an interest in feature film.  I worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood, and ultimately film director, for 15 years.  I was employed by several major studios as a writer, and the film I wrote and directed, Under Heaven, was a jury selection at the Sundance Film Festival and a nominee for an Independent Spirit Award.  I retired from Hollywood when I adopted a child and moved home to the Pacific Northwest.  I began teaching Art and Language Arts at a school for at-risk youth, and later moved to a comprehensive inner-city high school.  My novel Lexi Goes to School was inspired by my teaching work. I am querying a second novel, The Sum of Their Hearts, that examines the ethical and emotional issues surrounding international, cross-racial adoption.  I am almost finished with a new novel called  Freya the Deer inspired by Dostoevsky about a neurodivergent young woman who gets pulled into radical politics through a romance.