: About Me

Hi, I'm the new channel manager for Adult Education. I teach biology at Western Oregon University, where I specialize in science education for adult learners. I have a master's degree in botany from Oregon State University, and later earned teaching credentials and taught high school for a time, then moved up to college teaching and earned a Ph.D. in Science Education. I write about gardening on my blog, Reading Dirt, at http://readingdirt.blogspot.com and write about textile arts on my blog, Hissy Stitch, at http://hissystitch.blogspot.com.  I also write for children, and have published over 30 books for children, primarily nonfiction for the school and library market. 

If I had just one piece of writing advice for new Helium writers, it's this: Helium is not your blog. It's fine to put personal experience in articles where it enhances the article. For example, in a gardening article it can be really helpful to describe gardening techniques in a way that makes it clear that you've actually tried it and it worked for you. If you're writing about how adults returning to college can find financial aid, adding an anecdote or two about your own experience and that of your fellow students can help liven up an article. However, if your entire article is about your experience navigating financial aid at your college, it's not helpful to students at other colleges. If your article turns into a rant against  "the system" that temporarily lost your scholarship or denied you financial aid, it's not helpful to anyone. Some titles are designed for opinion pieces. For those designed as informative pieces, it's best to remain neutral but helpful.

My passion is ...

gardening, botany, education, knitting, spinning

My parents always told me ...

coffee is for grown-ups, which is why I don't drink it.

My childhood ambition ...

was to rich and famous. Still working on that. I'd settle for just rich.

Why I write ...

I've been addicted to writing since the age of four. Just try and stop me.

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

Brain Rules by John J. Medina from Audible.com

My first job ...

I worked in a cannery that processed beans and beets. Please - I'd rather not think about it.

My best moment ...

It's a toss-up between publishing my first book and finishing my Ph.D.

My inspiration ...

Life.

Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: My true story about gardening with my parents, grandparents, or children

7 of 20

The year I started third grade, Dad bought a farm. No, not THE proverbial farm, but A farm, or, to be exact, the piece of land that would be our little family farm. All my life up to that point had been one move after another as Dad was bounced from job to job, sometimes trying for something better, sometimes getting the sack unexpectedly. But this time it looked like we were back in our home town to stay, and Dad decided to do something he'd longed to do: build a house. Not only that, but he would build a house out in the country. We'd grow something. Christmas trees, maybe. Dad had heard...

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Writing:

• Marketplace Premier Writer
• 2Writing Contest Winner
• University Professor
• Marketplace Approved Writer
• 1Marketplace Articles Sold
• Helium Charter Member