Hi there! Thanks for stopping by. I'm a mystery writer and psychologist with a penchant for rescue Pomeranians and puns, so it's not surprising that psychology, Poms, and puns all pop up in my stories.

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I grew up in Connecticut, London, England, and the San Francisco Bay Area. 

 

I have a BA and MA in psychology with minors in English and sociology respectively from San Jose State, and a PhD in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California's Andrus Gerontology Center where I 

taught graduate students and conducted research. I also met my husband, an architect and professor, at USC.

 

Later we moved to Champaign-Urbana where I was an assistant professor at the University of Illinois. I moved back to Southern California to work at a leading litigation consulting firm before eventually opening my own jury consulting firm with a colleague.

 

My passion has always been trying to figure out what makes people tick and writing about it. I've published my  psychological research in academic journals, had my articles on the application of psychology to jury selection appear in legal and insurance magazines, and I've written about motives, relationships, and abnormal behavior in my murder mystery novels. 

 

I have two adult daughters, one a landscape architect and interior designer and the other a screenwriter and producer. I also have two adorable grandsons. And currently I am owned by three rescue Pomeranians, a.k.a. daughter surrogates, named Izzy (the cream sable) aka the Queen, Nikki (the black and white puppy) a.k.a. the Princess, and newest addition Pippy, (the orange sable) a.k.a. the Junior Mint. My dearest Ollie (the red fox) passed away last year aged 13. All provide inspiration for my stories.

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I'm a member of the American Psychological Association, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, and Guppies.

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