About
Beginning
1973-1991
I grew up in Boise, Idaho. Camped. Made forts with my two brothers. Swam at Lucky Peak. Slept outside on the deck in the summertime. Went to rowdy parties on dirt roads. Did some things I hope my kids never do. Wrote poetry. Made lifelong friends. Left as soon as I could.
Middle
1991-2007
I graduated from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Black History and Creative Writing in 1995. Then I hitched a ride to New York. Changed my name to Butterfly. Rode trains. Ran the streets. Came alive. Wrote short fiction. Graduated from New York University with a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing in 2001. Taught elementary school until 2005. Was terrible at it. Sought change. Moved to Japan. Stayed for 2 years. Wrote a novel. Put it in a drawer.
More Middle
2007-2020
Followed a guy to San Diego. Married him. Had his baby. Wrote a cover article for the San Diego Reader in January 2010. Wrote another and another until there were 50-plus cover stories and dozens of feature articles. Then wrote another version or two of the same novel I’ve been writing forever. In 2013, it was long-listed for the Mslexia novel competition, and then stuck back in the drawer. Kept writing. Published an essay in Elle Magazine. Wrote more short fiction. Personal essays. Copywriting. Content Marketing. More writing. So much writing.
Now
I make art. And I write. Mostly.