"Professionally, I have been teaching college and high school English and journalism for the past 30-plus years. Before that I worked as a writer and editor for a Gannett-owned newspaper (writing sports articles and general interest columns and later serving as a copy editor and news editor) and for the Schools of Engineering at Purdue University (writing speeches, research reports, and supervising other university publications).

Academically, my degrees are in English from Azusa Pacific University (B.A.) and Purdue (M.A.) I am certified to teach in the state of Indiana. In addition, I am a published novelist with four titles to my name.

As a teacher I have most recently worked with college-bound juniors and seniors in dual-credit and Advanced Placement classrooms.

I love working one-on-one with writers to sharpen their composition focus and skills. My philosophy is that the best way for me to help writers improve is to go through their work carefully with them, understanding their thinking as they write and helping them to consider audience, purpose, and related concerns in the communication process.

As a literature teacher I have specialized in American literature of all genres (novels, short stories, poetry, and drama) as well as British literature (Shakespeare, plus 19th and 20th century fiction and poetry). As an author myself, I like to show students how authors and poets think about their work as they create the great works that live on for centuries." less...