: About Me

I'm currently a Ph.D candidate at the University of Alabama. I write about and study monsters, particularly women as monsters, in American literature. My writing career began in high school and I thought I would certainly be an author and an artist when I grew up. I took what I felt was the sensible route and began a Ph.D program after years of trying almost every profession under the sun. So now, over 20 years later, you find me on Helium, a bit shell-shocked from academia, but still in love with writing.

In addition to being an instructor in English at the University of Alabama, I'm also a mom, a marathon runner, a once and future triathlete, and a Tallulah Bankhead wannabe.

My passion is ...

triathlons, monsters, and my daughter

I know too much about ...

my daughter's personal life

My parents always told me ...

Dad: Government and large corporatios are evil; Mom: are you sure you want to do that?

My childhood ambition ...

to be a writer, fashion designer, or veterinarian

My favorite memory ...

A rocket my dad launched landed in a nearby river. We watched the parachute float into the distance

Why I write ...

if I don't, I'll implode

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Love by Toni Morrison; hulu.com, Blues and Otep.

My first job ...

professional flautist at local restaurants

My best moment ...

Cheesy, but the birth of my daughter; #2 is winning the first triathlon I ever entered.

My inspiration ...

my family and some very influential friends; monstrous women

Parenting & Pregnancy > Parenting Teens Are parents overprotecting teens?

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As an educator of high school and college students and parent of a teenager, I've discovered there is a fine line between overprotection and suffocation. Adolescence is a time for exploring identity, autonomy, and for honing responsibility. However, it is also a time that contains the potential for life-altering mistakes. Adolescence now is not what it was when I was a teenager, just as my own adolescence was different from my parents'. According to the American Medical Association, 11 million teenagers begin drinking before the age of 14; more than half of teens polled claim they drink to...

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Writing:

• Marketplace Approved Writer
• 1Marketplace Articles Sold
• Helium Charter Member