Philadelphia native, former nun, scholar, author, public speaker, and emeritus professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
The Faithful Ones (Invictus Press Inc., 2025), my debut novel, is inspired by a true family story that is set in Philadelphia during World War II. My most recent historical novel, The Scorekeeper’s Daughter co-authored with Scott D. Peterson and based on the first female sports writer of baseball who in the late 19th century, is currently seeking a publishing home.
I earned my Ph.D in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, an MA in English at Villanova University and bachelor’s degree in English and Communication Arts from Holy Family University in Philadelphia. In my three-plus decade career at the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL, I was three times awarded Distinguished Professor of the year.
Social justice themes emerge in my scholarly as well as my creative writing. My memoir, Particular Friendships: A Convent Memoir, was named one of the featured books of the year by the Broward County Library’s Literary Feast, 2007 alongside the works of notable authors John Dickerson, Ishmael Beah, and Adriana Trigiani, among others. At the request of NSU undergraduate students, she delivered her “Last Lecture: Stories and Self-Reflection” the text of which appears in NSU’s Quadrivium. (https://nsuworks.nova.edu/quadrivium/vol1/iss1/10/).
A hiking and nature enthusiast, my love of the outdoors is matched by an absorbing and well-told novel, a poem—to paraphrase Emily Dickinson—that takes off the top of my head, and a film that transports and leaves me thinking. A longtime resident of Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, I revels in my metropolitan Philadelphia roots. I am an avid film-buff and a happy practitioner of meditation, Pilates, and yoga. I have been blessed with two daughters, three grandchildren, and three great grandchildren (and counting two more, so far!)
