I am a writer, editor, and translator. I teach creative writing at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and at Seattle's Richard Hugo House, where I was the 2006-2008 Writer in Residence.

My nonfiction has appeared in English, Spanish, and French in more than thirty magazines and journals in seven countries. In many publications my photographs accompany my writing. (All the images on this website, unless otherwise noted, are mine.) I am currently completing a narrative nonfiction book, No Word for Welcome, which explores how economic globalization intersects with village life in southern Mexico.

I also work as a freelance editor, doing developmental and substantive editing for universities, nonprofit organizations, and individual authors. I co-edited (with Mark Kramer) Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide (Plume/Penguin, 2007). The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) Monthly says of Telling True Stories: "This is a book you'll speed through and quote to your friends, read over and over, and find new insights on each pass through."