I'm Trick Dog Trainer, a Stunt Dog Judge, and the author two books, the memoir, FOR THE LOVE OF A DOG, (Harmony Books), and the novel, BODY SHARERS (Rutgers University Press). BODY SHARERS placed among the finalists for the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award for Best First Novel. Recent honors include finalist for the 2017 Frank McCourt Memoir Prize, winner of the 2016 Briar Cliff Review Nonfiction Award, winner of the 2013 Florida Review Editor’s Award, and a Best American Essays 2015 Notable Essay. I teach creative writing and dog training in Tampa Bay.
What I want young women and girls to know is . . . you’re going to walk into many rooms in your life and career where you may be the only one who looks like you or who has had the experiences you’ve had. But you remember that when you are in those rooms, you are not alone. We are all in that room with you applauding you on. Cheering your voice. And just so proud of you. So you use that voice and be strong–Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States
Democracy is necessary to peace and to undermining the forces of terrorism–Benazir Bhutto, First Female Prime Minister of the Islamic World
Some say we’re responsible for those we love. Others know we are responsible for those who love us.
–Nikki Giovanni, American Poet
“When I go hiking and I get over the hill, that means I am past the hard part and there is a snack in my future. That’s a good thing as far as I am concerned.” – Ellen DeGeneres
I’m concentrating on staying healthy, having peace, being happy, remembering what is important, taking in nature and animals, spending time reading, trying to understand the universe, where science and the spiritual meet. Joan Jett, American Rock Singer
If we have no peace, it’s because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.–Mother Teresa
Anyone who claims to be a leader must speak like a leader. That means speaking with integrity and truth– Kamala Harris
“I never really thought of myself as depressed so much as paralyzed by hope.” – Maria Bamford, Comedian
There will be people who say to you, ‘You are out of your lane. They are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be. But don’t you let that burden you. Kamala Harris, addressing the 2020 Black Girls Lead Conference
My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last,’ Kamala Harris
