About the Author
I am the author of Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless (University of Minnesota Press, 2025), a collection of twelve essays that invite readers to consider how we tend the earth in times of uncertainty, what we owe our neighbors, and ways we thrive in community. Reviewers call Shelter and Storm "luminous," "insightful," "fascinating," "captivating," and "a revelatory study of person and place, entwined." Yale Climate Connections named it one of summer 2025's must-read titles on climate change, and Poets & Writers called it one of the top twelve releases of spring. The Progressive named Shelter and Storm one of its favorite books of 2025, calling it "A delightful book that bears comparison to Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac and Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek." It has recently been named a finalist for the Sarton Book Award.
My short stories and essays have appeared in The American Scholar, Creative Nonfiction, The Georgia Review, the Guardian, One Story, Orion, The Progressive, The Southern Review, STORY Magazine, and other publications. I'm also the author of a book on sustainable living, The Human-Powered Home, and bestselling college textbooks on computer networking. My essay "Safer Than Childbirth" received a 2024 Pushcart Prize Special Mention and "Slow Blues" was named a 2021 National Magazine Award finalist.
I earned an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. I've been awarded fellowships at Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, Mesa Refuge, The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, and elsewhere. I teach writing workshops independently and through writing centers such as Hugo House, The Loft, and Writers.com.