I'm the president of Daybreak Lit. I developed this course because I love collaborating with authors like you on their dream writing projects.

My love for stories began when reading books by flashlight and watching old films as a kid.

That love for story continued in daily newspapers, where I learned the power of storytelling to transform lives. I've worked for The Denver Post and The Dallas Morning News, written freelance articles for The Washington Post and AOL, and served twice on a Pulitzer Prize jury, including once as chair.

I’ve also written three YA novels inspired by the ancient Near East where I learned tons about building worlds. I studied the food, the worship, the settings, the language, the family relationships, the war practices, and more. From that research, I created a fantasy world filled with wall reliefs, date palms, ziggurats, gods, goddesses, moonlit balconies, and mysterious deserts.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the reliefs at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum in Chicago and the date palms in Israel. I felt like the story I dreamed of had come to life. My writing experiences, along with my passion for books and film, led me to create this course.