Sponsored by Blue
“I have always been a writer, scribbling in little blank books, recording life as it is taking place around me.
The year I spent in Japan following my college graduation changed the direction of my career. After eating rare fish parts in tiny Kyoto restaurants, learning weaving at a remote textile school, and starring in karaoke videos, I simply couldn’t hitch myself to selling art work in a gallery or working in an art museum (my previous plan, given a B.A. in Art History). Instead, I decided to be a writer. I woke up at 6 a.m. to read and write for three hours before I went to work in a flower shop and then in an Italian restaurant. I became a student of sentences I read and loved.
In 1994, I moved to Key West, because I’d read that artists lived there. Within two weeks, I joined a women’s writing group and learned what it was like to read out loud. I wrote a weekly dining column for Solares Hill newspaper, and learned about deadlines and the many ways to paraphrase “delicious”. With clippings from Solares Hill, and the right story at the right moment, I sold a feature story to Vogue. Since then, I have been published in O, Gourmet, Metropolitan Home, Islands, Miami Modern Luxury, Conde Nast Traveler, and other magazines I used to dream about writing for.
I live in South Florida with my husband, Markham, who pushes me professionally when I feel meek and taught me to love wine; our son Blue, who started eating sushi at age two, and our daughter Vivian, who loves little blank books and recording life as it is taking place around her.”
