Education

• Masters Certificate in Online Teaching. (currently enrolled) University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana.
• M.A. in English, University of Illinois at Springfield, Springfield, Illinois. Concentration: Writing, Literature. December 2001.
• BA in English, University of Illinois at Springfield, Springfield, Illinois. Graduated with High Honors. Spring 1997.
• AA in Liberal Arts, Lincoln Land Community College, Springfield, IL. 1984.
• American Banking Institute. Classes in Data Processing, Business Writing Accounting and Oral Presentation.
• “Flight of the Mind” Intensive Writers Workshop for Women in Oregon. 1995. One of ten students from US and Canada selected to study the novel with Ursula K. LeGuin.
• Have also attended and completed writing workshops in Key West, New Orleans, Palm Springs, St. Louis, Boston and Chicago with such authors as Joyce Carol Oats, Ray Bradbury, Sue Grafton, Mickey Spellaine, Allison Lorie, Peter Matheson, Joseph Kellerman, E.L. Doctorow, Jamaica Kincade and others.

Professional Experience

• Summer 2002-Current Lincoln Land Community College, Springfield, IL. Supervisor: Kevin Staley
  • English Instructor, Adjunct
  • Teach Freshman English and Literature
  • Create lesson plans and present them.
  • Evaluate student work.
  • Provide personal as well as classroom instruction.
  • Develop methods in which students learn by non-traditional means.
  • Motivate students to work at college level.
  • Other duties as assigned.
• Fall 2001-Current Richland Community College, Decatur, IL. Supervisor: Donna Dare, PhD
  • English Instructor, Adjunct
  • Teach Freshman English.
  • Create lesson plans and present them.
  • Evaluate student work.
  • Provide personal as well as classroom instruction.
  • Develop methods in which students learn by non-traditional means.
  • Motivate students to work at college level.
  • Other duties as assigned.
• Fall 2000–Spring 2001 University of Illinois at Springfield, Springfield, IL. Supervisor: Pat Langley
  • Graduate Assistant
  • Perform the all tasks to assist Women’s Studies Faculty in their duties
  • Read and evaluate student work on black board, the on line courses as well as grade student papers.
  • Research and editing for Women's Studies faculty.
  • Organize meetings and presentations.
  • Other duties as assigned.
• 1973–2000 Bank One, Springfield, IL. Manager: Jim Monahan
  • Proof Supervisor
  • Schedule and supervise, part-time personnel for maximum efficacy with an ever-changing volume of items to process.
  • Authorize high dollar adjustments.
  • Develop hiring criteria hire and review performance of all part-time personnel.
  • Track Productivity, rejects and error rates for employee incentive pay program.
  • Perform connected administrative tasks. Implemented training course for new recruits---speed, accuracy, profitability and teamwork.
  • In the time I've been with Marine Bank and Bank One I have supervised a data entry department including two shifts of full time operators, managed the tape vault area and done scheduling for the highest efficiency of the main frame.
• Spring, 2000 UIS
  • Assistant Creative Writing Teacher
  • Assisted J. D. Jackson with a graduate level creative writing course.
  • Read and critiqued student papers.
  • Participated in class discussion of writing projects.
  • Gathered and presented information for students interested in publishing.
• 1995 AIDS Taskforce, Springfield, IL
  • Developed and Taught a five-week, Award winning, seminar titled: Memoir Writing for People Living With AIDS.
  • Promoted the workshop using local media: State Journal-Register, Illinois Times, The Prairie Flame, as well as other local gay and lesbian newsletters.
  • Found a location for the workshop to meet--The SARA Center (Springfield Area AIDS Resource Association).
  • Wrote grant application and won funding from the Poets and Writer's Lila Wallace Artist Achievement funds.
• 1979-1984 Sojourn Women's Center, Springfield, IL
  • Staff Counselor
  • Worked with women and children in crisis - domestic violence shelter.
  • Answered hot line.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Technical Experience

Proficient in: WebCT, Blackboard, MS Word, WordPerfect, Lotus Notes, Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus Smartsweet, Excel, (Spreadsheet), Power Point, Web page and Internet. Also took classes at Lincoln Land in Cobol Programming and Data Base. One class graduate level class on “Internet for Educators” in which we made our own web site.

Honors and Awards

• Raymond Carver Short Fiction Award, 2nd place $750.
• Illinois Arts Council, $5000 Artist Fellowship. Writing. 1997.
• Poets and Writers Inc, Lila Wallace Award to Developing and Teaching Memoir Writing for People Living With AIDS. 1996.
• University of Illinois as Springfield, Craig A Brown, Outstanding AST Award. 1996. For Teaching Memoir writing.
• University of Illinois at Springfield, Applied Study Program, Outstanding AST Student Award. 1996.
• Sangamon State University, Rosie Richmond Writing Scholarship—for writing. 1995.
• Illinois Times Readers Poll, "Best Author in Springfield." 1995.
• Friends of Lincoln Library Fiction Writer of the Year Award. 1995.
• Springfield Area Arts Council Rosie Richmond Award--Fiction. 1994-1995.
• Springfield Area Arts Council Artist Advancement Award—Fiction. 1993-1994.

Organizations

• Abraham Lincoln Association. Member 2001. Organization at the heart of the creation and partial funding Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.
• LAS Personnel Committee, at the University of Illinois in Springfield, 2000-2001—student member. Review faculty files and recommend tenure or promotions.
• WMS Personnel Committee, at the University of Illinois in Springfield, 2000-2001—student member. Review women faculty files and recommend to the LAS Personnel Committee tenure and promotions of women faculty members.
• WMS Scholarship Committee, at the University of Illinois in Springfield, 2001—student member. Review scholarship applications for two WMS Scholarships and make recommendations.
• Women’s Studies Committee, 2000-2001. This committee planed curriculum, and discussed any issues dealing with the Women’s Studies courses and department on campus. This committee is also a support system for female staff and faculty at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
• Illinois Writers Inc. Board Member. 1995-1998. Organized annual writers conferences, judged chapbook competitions, wrote articles for the Illinois Review, other duties.
• Sangamon Writers. 1991-2000. Edited a local arts and literature magazine titled The Writers Bar-B-Que. First reads, entering manuscripts, fund-raising and etc. Participated in readings of my work. Work shopped my own writing as well as critiqued work of other authors.
• Brainchild. 1994-Current. Workshop my own writing and critique other writers work.
• Women’s Mystery Writers Group meets in my home once a month; generally participants are women, though men have joined us. Writers come from as far away as Jacksonville, St. Louis, Bloomington and Indianapolis for this group, which is the only of it's kind outside of Chicago in the state.
• Illinois Philological Society. Presented paper, Spring of 2000. Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
• Illinois Philological Society. Panel on Tarot and Literature. Spring 2002. University of Illinois at Springfield, Springfield Illinois.
• Illinois Philological Society. Panel on Mystery Writing. Millkin Univ. Spring 2003.

Publications

Books

• Tales from the Levee.  Harrington: Southern Tier Press.  2005.
• Dispatch to Death: A Mystery. Novel. New Victoria Publishers. Vermont. This book is scheduled to be published in the fall of 2003.
• Nine Nights on the Windy Tree; A Mystery. Novel. New Victoria Publishers. Vermont. 2000. This book has been translated to German and republished in 2001 by Adriane Krimi 1135, Argument Verlag.
• Skin to Skin. Short fiction. New Victoria Publishers. Vermont. 1998.

Short Fiction

• "At the Last Minute" Carve Magazine. Summer 2009
• “Elise Riley” (Anthology) Women Writing Mysteries. ed. by Katherine Forrest. Spinster’s Ink. Winter. 2004.
• "Unsent Letter." (Anthology) All the Women Were Heroes, 1998.
• "Garden of the Hungry Cats." (Anthologies) Sappho Says 1999, All the Women Were Heroes, 1998; Common Lives, Vol. #42, Spring 1992, Skin to Skin, New Victoria Press, 1998.
• "The Sirocco." Bad Attitude, Spring 1996.
• "Hormones." Herotica 4, New American Library/Plume Spring 1996.
• "Billy's Voice." (Play) modern words, Summer 1995.
• "Best Friends." Herotica 3, NAL-Plume, Spring 1994.
• "Life Signs." The Evergreen Chronicles, Fall 1993.
• "Seductions." Herotica 2, Plume, Spring 1992.
• "Tell Me About California." Common Lives Vol. #42, Spring 1992.
• "Gremlins and Gypsy Moths." The Evergreen Chronicles, Summer 1991.
• "Mea Culpa." (Anthologies) The Alchemist, Spring 1991; Common Lives Vol. # 31, Summer 1989.
• "Reflections on Mars; or Sunrise on the 405." Common Lives Vol. # 37, Winter 1991.
• "Scar Tissue." Battered But Not Broken, Fall 1990.
• "Lady Verushka's Lover." Amethyst, Summer 1990.
• "Last Trip to the Yukon." The Writer's Bar B-Q, Vol. # 5, Spring 1990.
• "Obsession." On Our Backs, May-June 1990.
• "Queen of Tanqueray." Common Lives Vol. # 25, Winter 1988.
• "Watch of the Valkyrie." On Our Backs, Summer 1988.
• "Shark's Tooth." The Writer's Bar B-Q, Vol. # 3, Fall 1988.
• "Needs." Lovtann (translated) Oslo Norway, Winter 1989. Common Lives, Vol. # 2, Spring 1987.

Creative Non-Fiction

“No Queens on Pickett Street.” (Anthology) The Middle of the Middle West: An Anthology of Creative Non-Fiction, Ed. Becky Bradway. Indiana University Press. Spring 2003.

Plays: Written and Produced

• Where the Heart Is, produced by Mid-America Playwrights Theater, February 1996.
• Trouble at Third and Delaware, produced by Mid-America Playwrights Theater, February 1995.
• Billy's Voice, produced by Williams Theater Group, Philadelphia, PA. Castro Theater Group, San Francisco, CA. 1998, MAPS Theater in conjunction with the AIDS Taskforce, Springfield IL, four encore productions: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995. Recently produced (2002) at UIS for a fund-raiser for women’s scholarships.
• Fat Girls and Red Dresses, produced by MAPS Theater, December 1991.
• Journals and Newsletters
• “Why Teens Still Smoke.” Illinois Times. January 31, 2003. An article about tobacco settlement money going into state budgets, anti-smoking ads, and the fact that teen smoking has increased over 70% in the last ten years.
• “Martha Living.” Prairie Flame. This is a monthly column (a send up) like Martha Steward’s only mine is for the domestically challenged.
• “Better Late Than Never” Illinois Times. Springfield, Illinois. Feb. 21, 2002. An article about the VIA-Literacy program that teaches adults to read and tutors them for the GED.
• Third Space; a Woman’s Peer Review Journal, published a book review. The Life of Dorothy Richardson. Fall 2001.
• “People and Folks: Springfield Street Gangs.” Illinois Times. Springfield, Illinois. Summer 2001.
• “Cops and Authors,” Illinois Times. Springfield, Illinois. Fall 2000.
• Harvard G&L Review, review of a novel, The Silk Road, Fall 2000.
• Lambda Book Report, review of a novel, Unforgettable, July 2000.
• "Kate Clinton Interview," Illinois Times. Springfield, Illinois. Winter 2000.
• "Ruth Ellis Comes Home," an article, Illinois Times, September 1999.
• Monthly Book Review Column for SALO Newsletter. Review women’s books from small and independent presses.
• Also published book reviews in: Hag Rag, Common Lives, Brother-to -Brother Newsletter and NCASA Journal, Harvard Review and Lambda Book Report.

Manuscript Judging

• The Alchemist, a student publication at University of Illinois at Springfield, critiqued student submissions of short fiction, poetry and art and rated the submissions for the final editor. 1999.
• "On My Own Time," a literary competition sponsored by the Springfield Area Arts Council, 1997.
• "The Write Stuff," a young adult writing competition sponsored by the Lincoln Library in which winners were published in a literary magazine called The Write Stuff. 1996.
• Illinois Writers Inc., judged manuscripts for a short fiction Chap Book Competition, 1995.

Volunteer Work

• VIA-Literacy Program at Lawrence Adult Education Center in Springfield, Current. I work under the supervision of Amy Smith. I tutor adult students in reading.
• McClernon Elementary School. School year of 1999-2000. I worked in the Mentor Program and mentored a girl in third grade. I helped her with homework, taught her to play jacks and read to her one lunch hour a week.
• Sojourn Women’s Center. 1980-1984. Worked the hotline on the weekends. Covered overnight shifts for staff counselors. Did lay counseling to women and children in domestic violence crisis.

References

• Judy Everson, University of Illinois at Springfield, Retired English Professor and Dept. Head.
• Jacqueline Jackson, University of Illinois at Springfield, English Professor.
• Jim Monahan, Bank One Springfield, NEO Manager.