My Story

I’m a former journalist who spent years covering aerospace, space and politics for trade publications in Washington, D.C. In addition, I’ve done a considerable amount of freelance work in the conservation arena and held senior communications positions in both corporate aerospace and nonprofit oceanographic research organizations. 

 

In all aspects of my previous positions, science and how it relates to our world has been a continual theme and I’ve always loved to tell and write stories. Believe it or not, there is a lot of imagination and humor that goes on behind the scenes in all of these arenas, from the depths of the ocean to beyond the stars. I believe living creatures, from the tiniest octopus in the ocean to the biggest carpet of moss spread across a mountainside, have a story to tell. 

 

I created my own storybooks for my young son every year. I was inspired by the magnificent vegetable garden he created in our backyard and continues to expand. I decided to create Curtain Call Critter Stories to share my stories with a wider audience. 

 

Sneaky the Squirrel, who narrates our premier story, is real and visits our yard daily — scampering down from his nest in our Juniper tree. Even Bouncy the Bunny stops by each morning to garden raid and we are okay with that. There is no challenge or obstacle too great for Sneaky. I absolutely see him being in charge of the backyard crew in these stories and a friend to all. 

 

I decided to include the play script component because I believe there’s no greater way for children to bring a story to life than on stage. During a time when we are consumed by electronics and virtual reality, I’d like to share some accessible tools for real play and hands on ways to spark and grow imagination in a creative space. 

 

In the theater realm, my two-act play, Death of the Fourth Estate, was selected for the Theater of the First Amendment’s 8th Annual First Light Program for Professional Playwrights, which took place in June 2008 as part of the George Mason Arts Festival in Fairfax, Virginia. The play received a week-long workshop and was presented to the public as a staged reading. The play also was selected as one of 10 finalists for the Long Beach Playhouse’s 19th Annual New Works Festival in 2009 in Long Beach, California.

 

In January 2010, the Vortex Theater in Albuquerque, N.M, staged a production of a portion of my play, Hip Replacement, as part of the Women’s Work at the Vortex Festival. My one-act play Neighborhoods was produced in the "6 Women Playwriting Festival" in Colorado Springs in April 2007.  And five-minute plays, Paint By Numbers (2006), Treatment Center (2006), Recruitment (2007) and Forgotten Gems (2008) were selected for staged readings at Theater J in Washington, D.C. as part of the “5x5 Playwrights Respond” program. In addition, my short-play Slow Ride was podcast as part of New York-based Cynthia Taylor Production’s Radio Series Plays Program.