Does It Look Like Her? is a collection of poems centered around a painting of a middle-aged mother and artist, each evoking a unique perspective and reflection on the accuracy of art. Why was this an important collection for you to share?

Great question! I am a writer and teacher who also loves visual arts. I’m at an exciting point in my writing, too—I’m far from a beginning author, and yet I also have many more exciting ideas and characters I want to explore and share in my poetry, prose, photography, and drawing. I want to share this motivation and excitement with readers.

I also want to encourage fellow writers that it’s both never too late to begin, continue, or finish/share a literary project and also that all writers at all ages and stages of developing as creative artists have something meaningful, unique, and connective to share with readers and fellow authors.

I am intrigued by your writing style in Does It Look Like Her? What inspired you to write each selection from a different point of view?

Thank you! I started as a fiction writer (which I still also write), and I often still see elements of fiction such as character development—as inspiring to my poetry process. Narrative poetry such as in this collection offers a chance to blend two of my artistic loves—storytelling and poetry writing. My protagonist’s voice and that of her young son were some of the first poems I wrote in the collection, and it became very exciting to follow their voices on the page. I also love exploring how various other characters, such as Alix’s supportive coworker friend and her son’s dad, have very different viewpoints about Alix’s art and her personality based on their own experiences in life.

I love tuning into each character’s frustrations and goals; it’s almost like tuning into a new podcast or a different radio station. Each character is a new world, and there’s a wealth of imagery, dialogue, character development, line and stanza breaks, and so much more when exploring more than one POV in poetry. I’m endlessly fascinated and entertained by characters as they show up when I write a series or collection of poems.

What is one thing you hope your readers take away from your work?

I’d love for Alix’s story to offer readers encouragement and enthusiasm for their own writing and/or art making and for teachers or soon-to-be educators to find some of their own story in Alix’s journey as a new educator which, much like being a writer and artist, is an ever-winding life path of discovery, setbacks, challenges, and joys.

Can we look forward to more releases from you soon? What are you currently working on?

Yes, I love a good project, so I’m always working on a few that I look forward to sharing. Two of my latest projects include: writing another narrative poetry collection about a librarian protagonist which is set in the late 1940s/early 1950s during polio epidemics as well as completing a year of drawing doodles every day in a sketchbook in 2024, which has taught me so much about my drawing abilities and also shown me where I need to improve (and which I plan to blog about soon at my website).

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