About Me

I’ve been creating stories for 30 years. Born and bred in Kentucky, I started working right out of college for CBS News in New York City. One September morning, I took the train to Washington, D.C. and I’ve been here ever since. I worked in television then, but after seven years of the 24/7 on-call lifestyle, I went back to school at Georgetown University, where I read big thoughts of great writers, and earned a Master’s degree in Humanities. During my studies, I found my way to National Geographic where I became a staff writer for their magazine.

My personal and professional travels have taken me from the Pacific Ocean’s floor in a submersible called Alvin to the top the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. I’ve trekked through rice paddies in Indonesia, SCUBAed for underwater treasures in Eastern Europe, had tea in the Sahara and visited a thousand places in between. I love seeing the world, but more than that, I love to hear stories of the fascinating people and creatures in it.

I’ve covered politics and presidential campaigns as well as archaeology, marine biology, and cultural anthropology stories all over the planet. Despite delays and cramped seating, airplanes are exciting to me because they usually indicate a door opening to a new adventure. My writing has appeared in Reader’s Digest, where I was the National Affairs Reporter, The Washington Post, the New York Times, Arlington magazine, AARP Bulletin, Trust, George, and in the anthology A Woman’s Europe. I’ve written three NYT bestsellers: Safari, Ocean, and Polar, a regional bestseller 97 Ways to Make a Cat Like You, and a self-published book Mama Tricks. 

I’m also a certified wine geek (WSET3) and am almost finished with the WSET Diploma at the London School (5 tests passed, awaiting results of the thesis). I love writing about wine. I was shortlisted for the 2024 jancisrobinson.com annual wine writing competition, was selected as a fellow for the 2024 Napa Valley Vintners Association Wine Writers Symposium, and spent the last five years writing my own newsletter The Chardonnay Mom and hosting educational wine tastings. I’m also full-time writer for The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C.  When not in front of a keyboard, I try to be a wife who still dates her husband, a good (or at least competent) mom to two teens and three rescue cats, a friend who listens, and a faithful book club member–not to mention a neighbor who prioritizes getting together with the folks down the street to share a nice Chardonnay.