About Me
Once upon a time (in 1980) I huddled over my blue semi-electric Royal typewriter in a tiny one-room West Village sublet where I wrote a steamy contemporary romance novel inspired by my Brooklyn childhood fantasy – spending my life around dolphins! In the story, the heroine falls madly in love with a handsome dolphin and whale trainer and they swim happily ever after on a tropical island.
The novel, published in 8 languages, came true a decade later when, sitting alone in my Soho apartment on a cloudy Saturday morning, I heard a Voice insisting I go immediately to the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn (where I hadn’t been in over 20 years!) Reluctantly I obeyed, and there I met (and fell madly in love with) a handsome dolphin and whale trainer. One year later, we moved to Oahu, then to the tiny island of Lana’i where we married. The amazing true story was featured on the Lifetime TV series, Beyond Chance, hosted by Melissa Etheridge, and Japanese TV. And also in 2 best-selling book series.)
A few months after arriving in the islands, the strangest thing happened. While riding my bicycle one day through a lush, suburban neighborhood, a big red hibiscus bush shouted at me! I’m not kidding. I got off my bike, pulled out my journal, and furiously wrote down everything I heard. Three weeks later, I sort of woke up out of this “other worldly fever” and held a manuscript in my hands about nature spirits speaking to humanity. To be honest, I was embarrassed. Me, this hip, ex-New-Yorker authoring a mystical book about, of all things, faeries?! It took me years before I had the courage to show the manuscript to anyone. When I did, it became an international best-seller: BELIEVING IN FAERIES: A manual for grown-ups.
But hey, that’s just a few small curious tidbits about me. The islands inspired me to play more and explore more and expand my creative skill set: I spent years as a journalist, writing for local and national publications. I became an award-winning mixed media artist and published poet. I had the privilege of studying improvisation in Honolulu and Molokai with the legendary Alan Arkin. I also spent years working with Mick Pulver and his extraordinary Breakthrough Performance teachings.
All of that gave me the confidence to step out on stage and screen, leading to writing and performing my first one-woman show about aging and identity, Who the Bleep Am I? which debuted in Honolulu; also being cast as the lead in a local award-winning television commercial. And even landing a guest-starring role on the hit television series, Hawaii Five O.
Yet the magic of these islands didn’t cease! In 2014, a miraculous set of events led me to meet Lucie Lynch, a singer/songwriter, originally from Germany who moved to Hawaii inspired by my faery book! Although I was old enough to be her mother, we quickly discovered lots in common, including struggling to pay our bills and a life-long fear of finances. So we decided to channel our money woes into a creative project…
…And birthed MONEY TALKS: But What the Hell is it Saying, an autobiographical two-woman musical about self-worth, success, and failure. As the proud playwrights, lyricists, composers, performers, and producers of MONEY TALKS, we’ve brought the show to diverse audiences all over Hawaii (and Colorado) including a women’s prison, drug rehabs, churches, synagogues, corporations, and theatres.
The Diamond Necklace
When the pandemic hit, and every theatre on the planet shut down, we still wanted to share our passion as artists, women, and human beings. We wanted to remind ourselves (and everyone else) how important it is to be grateful for everything we have right now. So we made an uplifting mini-documentary celebrating the ups and downs of Life’s creative journey. Watch it here!
These days I’m working with clients all over the world and giving online workshops and talks and still doing my own writing and artwork and lots of bicycling with my still-handsome gray-haired former dolphin-training husband and petting my sweet dog and two wonderful cats and Facetiming with my amazing, world-traveling son, Reyn, and my wonderful step-son, Dennis Jr., his wife Brittany, and their adorable little one (my new grandson!), Julian and enjoying the heck out of breaking grammatical rules regarding really long, run-on sentences.
As you can see, I’ve got a wildly colorful toolbox filled with unique experiences, skills, and abilities (and a good dose of magic ) that I bring to every project I’m involved in (In fact, I’m really, really excited about my newest book, Quest, an illustrated novel about the mystical realm of Nature.). Who knows - maybe one day we’ll collaborate. Until then, be kind - to yourself and others - and remember to laugh. Much Aloha.
“Let yourself be silently drawn,
by the strange pull of what you really love
It will not lead you astray.”
- Rumi