About Sabrina

Hello! Thanks for stopping by to learn about me. Here are a few things that explain a lot about me:

1. As a kid, I was “painfully shy’ (although today we know it’s social anxiety). The kind of shy that makes people think you are stuck up because you never talk to anyone unless you are forced to talk to them. Thankfully, I went to a small school, so I had the normal amount of friends growing up. But I didn’t live near my school, so I didn’t see my friends very much. I spent a lot of time around adults as a kid and usually felt more comfortable with them than with kids my age. I’m still terrible at mingling.

2. I grew up in a house with lots of books. I mean LOTS. Like thousands. My dad was a readaholic and an academician whose field was Anglo-Irish literature (meaning not Gaelic literature). I grew up thinking it was normal for grown-ups to have dinner parties where people quoted Yeats and Shakespeare and Joyce while discussing world events and politics. I had no idea my childhood was weird. But I’m very grateful that it was.

3. I have written professional articles on legal issues, copy, essays, and poetry, but my favorite thing to write is stories. I especially love writing for kids and teens. I think because they are such a tough audience to please, it makes it all the more special when you write something they like. In January of 2014, I earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing, with a concentration in Writing for Young People, from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

4. I’m also an attorney. I used to be the CERCLA (superfund) attorney for the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, where I negotiated clean ups of toxic waste sites, reviewed environmental documentation, and advised my Army clients on environmental law issues. My favorite part of this job was being the back up attorney for Endangered Species Act issues because I love animals. Now I work for the Army Corps of Engineers and do a lot of the same kinds of things, although, sadly, not much endangered species work. If I weren’t a writer or an attorney, I’d want to be an architect. Or a wildlife vet. A wildlife vet is an insanely cool job. I would want to help marine mammals like sea lions and otters or I would want to help big cats like cheetahs and tigers.

5. Pittsburgh is my hometown and no matter where I live, it’s home. I have three kids, four cats, and one very confused dog. My house is always a mess because there are more of them than me. I make pretty good cinnamon rolls and awesome chocolate chip cookies. When I’m not writing, I can usually be found walking my dog. We used to be frenemies, but like all good romcoms, we are now each other’s ride or die.

6. I was born with bilateral clubfoot (meaning both feet) and had to wear a special brace when I was a baby. And a lot of really ugly “corrective” shoes as a kid. My favorite shoes to wear are Salomon trail runners. But I rarely run in them. I am often drag-jogged by the dog, though.

7. I eat ketchup on my mashed potatoes. I have a chocolate problem.

8. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Blue Angel, until I was twelve and found out that you had to be a boy, had to have your vision, and had to be able to do math. Thankfully, only two of those criteria are needed today. I also wanted to be a veterinarian and an architect.

9. I have dyscalculia (a math learning disability). I’ve never been formally diagnosed, but it’s ridiculously obvious. I’m also borderline ADD (my daughter would quibble with borderline, but I’m sticking to it). ADHD/ADD is very prominent in my family, every generation, so I’m lucky mine isn’t worse. I am terrible at anything that requires reverse thinking (like time planning, sewing, or carpentry). I am always ten minutes late. I learned recently this is a dyscalculia thing, so for everyone who has shamed me over the years for this, yeah.

10. I often wish I were the girl in a Hallmark movie. And that Scooby-doo was my dog. Although, come to think of it, my dog is a LOT like Scooby-doo….

If you still want to know more about me, you can find where to follow me at Linktree. You’ll see that I care about animals, human rights, women’s rights, education, art, and a whole lot of other bleeding heart kinds of things. If you’d like to contact me, please visit my Media Kit page.

Thanks for visiting!

6 thoughts on “About Sabrina

  1. I am currently reading Leaving Kent State and truly love it. I was eight years old and a student at Walls Elementary when this happened. I father graduated in March of that year and was waiting to move as soon as my school was over. We did move soon after this so I was not only affected by the events but never got to see the healing of the community. Thank you for helping me understand my past.

    1. Dear Arlene,

      Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know that you’re enjoying it! I’m so glad to hear the book is helping you – as authors, we put our books out there and hope to have them make a positive impact on people, but to get the feedback that what we have worked so hard on is resonating with someone is really special.

      You may also find useful the oral history project that KSU put together. You can access it online: Oral histories

      Best regards,
      Sabrina

Tell Me What You Think

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.