I know that you’re never too old to start over and follow your dreams. I have done so. Multiple times.
Now based in Colorado with my husband, Daniel, my heart remains deeply tethered to Hawaiʻi. On our tenth wedding anniversary, we travelled to Kauaʻi and fell in love—not just with the island, but with the Hawaiian spirit of aloha: kindness, connection, and living with intention.
Six months later, we walked away from long-time careers in the television industry, packed our lives into suitcases, and moved to Kauaʻi, renting a tiny studio apartment we found on Craigslist.
Before the move, I was already circling my next creative life. A longtime Food Network viewer, CSA member, and certified personal chef, I arrived on Kauaʻi ready to follow curiosity wherever it led. Immersed in island life, I began writing two weekly newspaper columns spotlighting local farmers and restaurants. The columns grew so popular they were picked up by the daily paper. From there, I published a restaurant guidebook and founded a successful food tour company—blending storytelling, food, and community into a thriving second act.
After nearly eight years on Kauaʻi, we returned to Colorado to care for my ailing parents. Once again—amid grief, responsibility, and the isolation of the COVID lockdown—I found myself starting over. This time, I turned to fiction.
I have completed my debut novel, set in Hawaiʻi, and am currently seeking agent representation.
I am the 2026 Agent Liaison for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, the 2020 first-place winner of the Pikes Peak Writers Zebulon Award for Women’s Fiction, and a former organizer of the Kauaʻi Writers Conference. I was selected for the yearlong Fishtrap Writers Workshop, and my nonfiction work has appeared in numerous publications such as The San Francisco Chronicle, Honolulu Star Advertiser, The Denver Post, Hawaiian Airlines website, Edible Hawaiian Islands, Taste, and Honolulu magazine.
Through my writing and newsletter, I invite you into a community of dreamers—people who believe it’s never too late to choose curiosity over fear, kindness over hustle, and meaning over momentum. Join Living With Big Dreams—a space for people who can’t imagine not turning ideas into real things. Through essays on reinvention, the aloha spirit, nourishing recipes, and conversations with others who keep going, this is where I explore life as an active dreamer—plus share updates on my publishing journey.