TRAVEL/FOOD

The Writer

From Nancy Drew to the newsroom

I want to go deep into whatever I write about, a trait that started after I gave up my dream of becoming a detective after overdoing my fixation with Nancy Drew. I decided to become a writer instead. I was ten and thought the best way to make this a paying profession was by writing and publishing a newsletter about the neighborhood dogs. Of course, my neighbors had to buy copies because how do you say no to a ten-year-old?

I’ve upped my game since then and am a freelance writer, author, columnist, blogger, and photographer who specializes in travel, food, book reviews, personalities, culture, architecture, wine, spirits, traditions, and lifestyles. Besides all my non-fiction and feature writing, I am also finishing up a romantasy novel.

What I Cover

Travel, food, culture, history, and beyond

Travel/Food explores destinations through food, culture, history, and architecture, with posts on restaurants, chefs, and cookbooks that bring each place vividly to life. It’s a place for readers who love discovering the stories behind what they eat and where they go.

I have a weekly book column and bi-weekly travel column for the Northwest Indiana Times, the second largest paper in the state. I also write a weekly food column for the Herald Palladium, the largest paper in Southwest Michigan. My other outlets include Chicago Life Magazine, MexConnect, Great Lakes Boating, Long Weekends Magazine, and Meer.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Chasing stories in dusty archives

I love exploring the quirky, the little known, and discovering hidden gems. If there’s a dirt road, I take it. If I need to make a u-turn to travel even further into the countryside, I do so. I love shopping in food markets whether it’s on a backroad in Amish country, Vienna’s Naschmarkt, the Mercado San Miguel in Madrid, or a guava farmstand in Calvillo, Mexico.

I dig deep, going down rabbit holes chasing stories, digging in dusty archives that no one has touched for years, sitting in dark corners of libraries while others are outside enjoying beautiful spring days, and perusing stacks in the basement of libraries, looking for books that haven’t been checked out in the last 50 years. It’s all worth it for that eureka moment when you discover that vital clue.

In the Kitchen

Quail eggs, hibiscus flowers, and cookbooks as novels

I stock up on unique ingredients. Right now I have quail eggs, hibiscus flowers in syrup, chili crisp, boudin, duck confit, and horchata in my refrigerator. In my spice pantry, I can select from several different varieties of paprika, dukkah, an assortment of salts — lavender, Himalayan Pink, Kala Namak, and Sel Gris from the Atlantic coast of France.

I read cookbooks like they’re novels and can tell you what edition of The Joy of Cooking has a recipe for beaver tails. My Silver Palate cookbook is falling apart and there are food stains on most of my Ina Garten cookbooks.

Beyond the Page

History, mystery, and what comes next

I also consume mysteries like crazy as well as history — particularly about women. A newspaper and magazine addict as well as a New York City wannabe, I subscribe to The New York Times, the New Yorker, and New York Magazine, the Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and Food & Wine.

Starting soon, I will be adding a true crime component to my blog, as I’m fascinated by historic true crime and over the years, in writing several of my true crime books, I’ve discovered other cases that are astounding. I have learned from all my research that fact can be much more compelling than fiction.