Most of my childhood was spent in Pottstown, PA. My family moved me to Beatrice, NE right before my senior year of high school. What I feared would be a nightmare, turned out to be a welcoming challenge. In 1982, I went to the University of Nebraska for undergraduate studies and then onto Creighton University School of Law. I graduated cum laude and received my JD in 1990 with my 6-week-old son in my arms (No male graduates did that).

I now live in Lincoln, Nebraska with my husband and Australian Shepherd, Riley. When my three children moved onto graduate programs in other cities, my writing career became much more active.

I have been an assistant attorney general for the State of Nebraska and a professor in the College of Journalism at the University of Nebraska. I also served as editor of In Situ Bioremediation and Efficacy Monitoring published in 1998 by the United States Naval Research Labs. In law school, I was published in the Law Review and became an editor. This experience developed an interest in me for research. My knowledge of the opioid epidemic stems from my previous work as assistant attorney general and thorough research into opioid use in the United States—how it got here, how it grew into the epidemic it is today and who the players are.

I’m also a full-time volunteer who has donated thousands of hours to help those in need. I have worked with The Lincoln City Mission, Boys & Girls Club of Lincoln, Matt Talbot Kitchen, The Godteens Program, Lancaster County Medical Alliance, The American Heart Association and The National Cancer Foundation. 

I love cooking, traveling, card games and Saturday night plans. I’m also a fitness buff, cyclist and avid jogger when not being run down by random drunks and old men in trucks. On April 24, 1994, I was the accidental target of a drunk driver who was driving a stolen car at 120 mph on interstate 80 at 11:00am Sunday morning. He flipped his car over the construction barricade and catapulted through my windshield. I suffered a traumatic brain injury and remained in the hospital for 3 months until I gave birth to my second child. She’s fine, I’m fine, and my then 4-year-old son who was buckled into his car seat behind me is fine.

In April of 2014, I commemorated my son’s survival with a car seat fundraiser. Through this event, I was able to donate 350 car seats to the local police department. I wanted to persuade police officers to withhold the ticket for a car seat violation and instead give needy families a free car seat. My persuasion worked.

Little did I know that 28 years after proving my tenacity, my fortitude would be tested again. On September 25, 2022, I encountered the front grill of a right-turning truck when riding my bike across an intersection along Hwy 2. The bright green light in the shape of a bicycle indicated that I should proceed, but the older man driving the grey Ford didn’t look twice to his right or didn’t look at all. My bike and I flew onto Hwy 2. I can still hear the deafening sound of my helmet cracking as it hit the road. I felt no part of what I heard. The beauty of a bike helmet. My scream caused the man to brake, and once again I’m fine. The swelling, deep bruises and fear faded away.

Until I’m tested again, I’ll continue to write. And even after I’m tested, I’ll write. It’s a piece of the puzzle that makes me who I am.