I live in Anchorage, Alaska, have been an Alaskan for most of my 26 years and love it. I grew up in the bush with just my parents and pets. My dad had a light plane that we used to fly to the nearest town (50 miles away). I was homeschooled until 8th grade. Living there is one of the reasons I love reading so much. I learned to read early and just about read the entire junior section and half the adult section by the time we moved into town six years later when my sisters were born.

I still love to read (especially OSC of course). I was a bit lazy about it during college since I was going full time and working 3 jobs, but for the past 3 yrs or so I have been catching up on everything. Whenever I go to the bookstore I tend to get a little carried away. It's like the grocery store -never go shopping without a list. Anchorage has quite a few good bookstores and it is easy to spend hours there just making up my mind. The OSC list members have given me quite a few good ideas on what to read next.

As for what I am doing now, my husband and I bought a house in June and have been filling it up with animals ever since. We have two black cats and a Boston Terrier puppy so far. My career goal is to be an actively showing silver-smith, so a shop set up in the garage is the next step. The new truck we just got doesn't fit in there anyway! I have a BFA in painting/metalsmithing and teach an informal class on painting every week. I am selling furniture at a high-end store to pay the bills until my career takes off.