My debut novel, Carpe Diem, Illinois, won the 2014 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award for non-traditionally published fiction, was a finalist in the Independent Author Network 2015 Book of the Year, and a runner-up in the 2016 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition. Its sequel, God on Mayhem Street, was released in August of 2016. I’m a Chicago Writers Association board member, the managing editor of CWA’s The Write City Magazine and The Write City Review, and a UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies adjunct writing instructor where I offer workshops, critique manuscripts, and help writers practice their agent pitches. I have a B.A. in psychology and a J.D., both from UW-Madison.