Hi there!
I’ve wanted to be a writer for about as long as I can remember. I wrote my first story at seven years old while I was bored at church, and somewhere between the pencil and the page, I was hooked.
There was something magical about creating a world out of nothing but words—or taking something I’d noticed, wondered about, or fallen down a research rabbit hole over and sharing it with someone else.
That hasn’t changed much.
Today, I write fiction, essays, poetry, and the occasional wandering observation. My imagination tends to drift toward Victorian and Edwardian England, the American West, folklore, old places, strange happenings, and the natural world. I’m equally happy inventing a woman riding across a dusty Western trail, researching an odd Victorian belief, or watching a bird outside my window and wondering if there’s an essay hiding in it.
I currently live in Montana with my husband, near Yellowstone National Park, where there is considerably more wildlife—and winter—than I was accustomed to after living in Utah. The landscape has worked its way into my writing, particularly my nature essays and poetry, and has made me pay closer attention to the small things happening outside.
A Few Things About Me
I’m a lifelong reader, although these days quite a few of my books arrive through my headphones. My shelves and listening history are a slightly unruly mixture of mysteries, thrillers, romance, horror, biographies, history, British and American classics—and Archie comics, which I refuse to outgrow.
I love paranormal podcasts and scary movies, although I have been known to watch the particularly frightening parts through my fingers. I will also happily abandon almost anything for a good rerun of Seinfeld or The Office.
At various points in my life, I’ve played the piano, clarinet, and violin with varying degrees of mediocrity. I still like playing badly now and then. It keeps me humble.
I prefer sunsets to sunrises, dark chocolate to almost any other dessert, old buildings to new ones, and places with stories attached to them. I also adore animals. Growing up, I was the kid who brought home strays and tried to nurse anything injured back to health. Allergies currently keep me from having pets of my own, which I consider deeply unfair.
And I am incurably curious. History, folklore, wildlife, spirituality, books, forgotten customs, strange old stories—if something makes me wonder Why?, there’s a good chance I’ll eventually write about it.
Me in Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon, 2016.
It is one of my favorite places!
Places That Feed the Imagiation
In 2024, I traveled outside the United States for the first time when my husband and I visited England, where he grew up near Winchester.
It was exactly as dangerous to my imagination as you might expect.
Old churches, villages, gardens, ruins, forests, and places connected to centuries of stories made it very difficult for me not to imagine what might have happened there—or what could have happened there. England joined the American West and the Yellowstone landscape as one of those places that continually finds its way back into my writing.
That mixture probably explains this website better than anything else.
I like old stories and wild places. I like the things history remembers and the things folklore refuses to forget. I like ghosts and flowers, dusty trails and Victorian parlors, wildlife and old books.
Mostly, I like following my curiosity to see where it leads.
(♡ Check out a few pics of my hubby and me on our trip to England in June of 2024 and some of my prior pets - I miss them!)
The River Itchen in Nik's hometown of Winchester, UK.
A cool old oak tree in the New Forest, UK. Maybe some tree fairies live here. ;)
Stonehenge! It was such a beautiful day and moment.
King Arthur's Round Table, The Great Hall, Winchester, UK. I've loved the legend of King Arthur and Merlin forever; it's no wonder I like to write about fairies.
Some of my pets over the years
My first cat, Cookie, 1987
My cat, Crystal, 2010 (I think she was my favorite kitty.)
My boxer, Hugo, 2014 (Hugo holds a special place in my heart.)
