Formerly a magazine and newspaper journalist, I have been writing nonfiction, memoir and poetry for over 30 years. My mother read to me as a child, and my love of writing and words grew from there. I remember lines from a poem I wrote in first grade: There once was a car/that bumped into a jar./It didn't go very far...." I continued journaling and writing poetry throughout my school years. As a student at Davidson College, I was inspired to keep writing by a wonderful creative writing professor, Anthony "Tony" Abbott.
My career as a journalist began shortly after my husband Joel and I were married. We lived in Atlanta, GA, and I was hired by Communication Channels, Inc., a magazine conglomerate. I worked my way up from editorial assistant to assistant editor at Today's Living and Better Nutrition magazines to managing editor of Cashflow Magazine.
Before my mother became ill with Alzheimer’s, my husband and I lived in Houston, TX, where I rode horses and worked as the executive editor of three editions of The Observer, a community newspaper, and later as the managing editor of the Conroe Courier, a daily newspaper. I was also a contributing editor for Horseman Magazine. While I enjoyed many aspects of newspaper work, the daily grind of hard news wore me down, and I felt compelled to nourish my soul through creative writing projects and spending time with horses.
When my husband and I moved back to North Carolina to be closer to our family, I split my time between freelance writing and teaching riding lessons. We built a barn for my horse Crimson and my riding students' horses.
When I discovered that Tony Abbott, my old mentor from Davidson College, was teaching poetry classes. my creative writing spirit caught fire again under his tutelage. I was honored to win the Poet Laureate Award twice from the North Carolina Poetry Society and thrilled to have my poetry read by Garrison Keillor on The Writers' Almanac. My award winning collection of poetry, What Flies Away, was published by Main Street Rag.
Eventually, I began to spend most of my time on my pet project – Motherhood: Lost and Found – a memoir about my mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s at the same time I was trying to become a mother. After a series of miscarriages and much heartache, my husband and I were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. And several years later, my memoir was published.
In 2017, I joined the management team of AlzAuthors.com, a nonprofit website that represents over 160 authors who write books and blogs about Alzheimer's and dementia. It has been a pleasure to connect with so many writers who share the experience of being a caregiver.
Through the years, I have enjoyed sharing my passion for writing and horses with my daughter, who is now a teenager. My family and our animals live on a small horse farm in North Carolina.
My career as a journalist began shortly after my husband Joel and I were married. We lived in Atlanta, GA, and I was hired by Communication Channels, Inc., a magazine conglomerate. I worked my way up from editorial assistant to assistant editor at Today's Living and Better Nutrition magazines to managing editor of Cashflow Magazine.
Before my mother became ill with Alzheimer’s, my husband and I lived in Houston, TX, where I rode horses and worked as the executive editor of three editions of The Observer, a community newspaper, and later as the managing editor of the Conroe Courier, a daily newspaper. I was also a contributing editor for Horseman Magazine. While I enjoyed many aspects of newspaper work, the daily grind of hard news wore me down, and I felt compelled to nourish my soul through creative writing projects and spending time with horses.
When my husband and I moved back to North Carolina to be closer to our family, I split my time between freelance writing and teaching riding lessons. We built a barn for my horse Crimson and my riding students' horses.
When I discovered that Tony Abbott, my old mentor from Davidson College, was teaching poetry classes. my creative writing spirit caught fire again under his tutelage. I was honored to win the Poet Laureate Award twice from the North Carolina Poetry Society and thrilled to have my poetry read by Garrison Keillor on The Writers' Almanac. My award winning collection of poetry, What Flies Away, was published by Main Street Rag.
Eventually, I began to spend most of my time on my pet project – Motherhood: Lost and Found – a memoir about my mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s at the same time I was trying to become a mother. After a series of miscarriages and much heartache, my husband and I were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. And several years later, my memoir was published.
In 2017, I joined the management team of AlzAuthors.com, a nonprofit website that represents over 160 authors who write books and blogs about Alzheimer's and dementia. It has been a pleasure to connect with so many writers who share the experience of being a caregiver.
Through the years, I have enjoyed sharing my passion for writing and horses with my daughter, who is now a teenager. My family and our animals live on a small horse farm in North Carolina.
Photo below: Ann with her horse Crimson, 1995
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Ann with her husband Joel, daughter Sydney and Sydney's horse Foxie, 2015
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