I’m a freelance film and culture critic, an award-winning journalist, and a screenwriter and script consultant who believes in the power of connecting through stories.
I grew up in Burlington, N.J., where my dad worked at the local power plant, and we spent summer evenings walking along the Delaware River. I’ve created stories in print since I was nine, when I taped catalog pictures onto filler paper above my handwritten adventure tales. I’ve had an entrepreneurial spirit ever since, moving from New Jersey to New York to Florida in pursuit of my craft. (I have a soft spot for Brooklyn, where I slept overlooking the BQE, ate sfogliatelle from the Court Street Bakery and climbed the fire escape to watch fireworks.)
Working as a daily crime journalist strengthened my storytelling foundation. In the 1990s, I helped launch APBNews.com, an Internet-based news organization that broke new ground by covering crime, justice and safety online nationwide. We had an egalitarian mix of veteran newshounds, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Sydney Schanberg, tenacious newbies, and technical gurus. After the dot.com bust of 2000, I continued covering crime for the next decade, winning two first-place “Excellence in Journalism” awards from the Florida Press Club with The Tampa Tribune, as well as writing and reporting awards from the mid-Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. I’ve spoken at conventions of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.
Now a screenwriter and film and culture critic, I focus not just on fictional mayhem but how stories stick with us and shape us. I’ve co-written two feature film screenplays, New London, in production with Westerfield Studios, and Lovebirds, which my writing partner, Terri Emerson, and I are marketing. I’ve also written, produced, and directed the short film The Guardian (2011), and I’m a writer and producer for the StoryStruck podcast, currently in development.
My film and culture essays, interviews, and reviews have appeared in publications such as The Hollywood Reporter, RogerEbert.com, The Guardian, Hazlitt, In Their Own League, and Bright Wall/Dark Room. I’m a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, as well as a certified critic on RottenTomatoes.com. I’m also the author of the book Quicklet on ‘The Closer’ Season 1 (Hyperink, 2012), about the Emmy-winning TV series starring Kyra Sedgwick.
Since 2011, I’ve helped moderate and advise the Tampa Bay-area screenwriting group, Screenwriters of Tomorrow, which hosts table reads and constructive critiques about scripts for shorts and feature films. I’ve also cohosted screenwriting workshops for the Florida Film Network and the Sunscreen Film Festival of St. Petersburg, Fla.
As a script reader and script consultant, I’ve evaluated screenplays for the Austin Film Festival’s screenwriting contest, the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, and Coverfly, as well as for individuals and companies such as 3rd Herd Films and Show Me the Money Productions.
I’m passionate about thrillers, sci-fi, and challenging stereotypes about gender and disability. Let’s better stories and telling stories better.
I’m available for writing assignments, script coverage and story analysis, story consultations, adaptations, and text editing projects. Catch up with me on Twitter or my Medium publication, StoryStruck.
How can I help with your story? Please Contact Me to talk further.