Photo by Carrie Breinholt.I was born in Redwood City, California, and raised in Sonoma County, mostly in the tiny town of Forestville, near the flood-prone Russian River. I was always reasonably quiet and literary. I wrote my first poem when I was 13 (it was half "found poem" and half original), and discovered journalism at 17. I haven't stopped writing since then.
I graduated from El Molino High School, majored in journalism at the Santa Rosa Junior College, and earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley.
I have been a regular staffer at a number of school and professional newspapers, including The Lion's Roar, The Oak Leaf, The Daily Californian, The San Rafael-Terra Linda News Pointer, The Redwood City Daily News, and the San Francisco Examiner. In addition, I have freelanced for USAToday.com, MotherJones.com, Wired.com, Poynter.org, the San Francisco Chronicle, the SF Weekly, Addicted to Noise, Bay Area Music, Bikini, ROCKRGRL, and Crescent. My poetry has been published in Tertulia, Terrain, Centaur, Dispatch, Hot Metal Press, New Verse News, Bardsong and Lime Green Bulldozers.
I am the author of several books, including Beloved, a novel; Sacred Sonoma: Sacred Sites and Alignments in Sonoma County, California; Read the Music: Essays on Sound; and Dream Brother.
My blog, Backward Messages, examines how so-called "controversial" teen interests, including violent video games, goth culture, heavy metal music, and paganism, can be a healthy part of growing up. I regularly debunk scientific research on these cultures as well as negative portrayals of them in the press.
I have lived all over the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently live in San Francisco.