Photo by Anita Scharf
Author
I am a late-blooming author working hard to make up for lost time. I earned an MFA in creative writing from UC Riverside, Palm Desert when I turned sixty.
My second book, Gray Is The New Black: A Memoir of Self-Acceptance was recently published by Otis Books (Seismicity Editions, June 2019). Evocative of both Nora Ephron’s wry, hilarious I Feel Bad About My Neck and the cathartic Hunger by Roxane Gay, Gray Is The New Black, shares an intimate story of ageism, shame and affirmation, one that will resonate with women of a certain age, full of smile-inducing insights, heartbreak, and—finally—affirmation.
My first book, The Reluctant Artist, is an art book/memoir about my father, an immigrant from the Philippines, was published by Shanti Arts in 2015. An essay about my mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s was awarded second place in the 2018 Kalanithi Awards (honoring Paul Kalanithi, author of When Breath Becomes Air), and one of my short stories (Tiny Dancer) was nominated for a Pushcart and Best of the Net. I have published essays and stories in a number of literary journals. (Below are links to some of my favorites)
I grew up in San Francisco's Sunset District, blocks from the Zoo and Ocean Beach, during the fifties and psychedelic sixties. As a single mother, I climbed the ranks of state civil service, rising from clerk typist to Executive Director of the State Water Resources Control Board. Along the way, I worked for California's Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials and managed toxic and solid waste cleanup programs. Retired from 9 to 5 jobs, I now have my dream job - writer. I also work for a Sacramento-area nonprofit, 916 Ink, which conducts creative writing workshops for area youth and transforms them into proud, published authors.
I am a proud mother and grandmother and a fortunate wife, sister and daughter. Our home has always been filled with children, my father's art and a menagerie of four-legged friends, including several generations of guinea pigs and my beloved Mocha, a rescue who recently crossed the rainbow bridge. With all the kids now grown and flown, Luma, an imperious black cat, rules the roost and ensures I don't get more than four hours of sleep, while adolescent guinea pig brothers, Oreo and Walter, scatter hay and make lots of noise.
I am a proud mother and grandmother and a fortunate wife, sister and daughter. Our home has always been filled with children, my father's art and a menagerie of four-legged friends, including several generations of guinea pigs and my beloved Mocha, a rescue who recently crossed the rainbow bridge. With all the kids now grown and flown, Luma, an imperious black cat, rules the roost and ensures I don't get more than four hours of sleep, while adolescent guinea pig brothers, Oreo and Walter, scatter hay and make lots of noise.
Publications
FLASH FLOOD
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THE PEGASUS REVIEW
TIN HOUSE ONLINE
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PROXIMITY MAGAZINE
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LONGRIDGE REVIEW
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