Early Life
I was born in Oregon, but I didn't have much time to get comfortable in the Pacific Northwest because when I was two weeks old my dad got a job with California State Parks. We moved around from park to park for all my life--changing schools and friends and churches--as my father rose in the ranks of the park service. I hated being uprooted, but looking back I realize how that experience exposed me to such an amazing array of places and people that I would have never known in a more traditional lifestyle. Our assignments ranged from the forests of Northern California, to the Mojave desert, to the mountains of San Diego County. Each place lives large in my mind to this day.
Education
I have known since I was fifteen what I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew that I wholeheartedly (well that is after that brief dalliance with the idea of being a lawyer...but doesn't everyone think they want to be a lawyer for awhile? And then they come to their senses...) wanted to impart my love of books with the next generation--in other words, I wanted to teach English. I earned my A.A. in English from Cuyamaca College in 1994, then I transferred to San Diego State University to finish my B.A. in English in 1997, graduating Summa Cum Laude with Distinction in English, and Phi Beta Kappa. I immediately returned to finish my education, earning my M.A. in English (American Literature) in 1999.
Family Ties
As interesting as Literature is, it can't compare to the great adventure of your own family. I was blessed to have my two beautiful girls close together and to raise them almost like twins. It made for crazy times for awhile--two in diapers and drinking bottles--but I wouldn't trade it for the world. And now...they are "becoming so tall and stylish" as Marilla once said of Anne, and I find myself dreading the day they leave me to make their own way in the world.
My Addiction
This sounds intriguing...even dangerous. Perhaps. I am addicted to words. Reading them...writing them...everything related to words. I wake up in the morning and want to write. When I am faced with a free snippet of time I can be found secretly editing a short story I am working on or jotting down a particularly beautiful sentence about the sky or trees or a person's nose. If I'm not working on something of my own I love brainstorming story ideas with students or other teachers. I don't know what came first, my love of enjoying good writing, or my desire to create it myself, but all I do know is that for me these two things are linked and inseparable.
This love, this addiction, is one I share with others...Mrs. Rea, Mr. Rea, and my father. If you are interested and want to learn more about our passions, our books, or our book related events, please click on the button below to check out our writing website.
This love, this addiction, is one I share with others...Mrs. Rea, Mr. Rea, and my father. If you are interested and want to learn more about our passions, our books, or our book related events, please click on the button below to check out our writing website.
My Favorites
People
So, would it surprise you if, next to my children and my closest friends, some of my favorite people are cats? If you are one of my students it won't surprise you at all! I actually considered putting the cats in the 'my addiction' section, but even I thought that might be going a bit too far. Anyway, at the risk of sounding like one of those crazy, afghan-wearing old women, I love cats. I have ever since I was a little girl. Perhaps this affinity stems most from all the loneliness and sadness of being an only child of divorced parents. My cats were always there for me--always accepting, always warm, always ready to play.
Besides cats, the list of favorite people could get kind of out of control if I'm not careful. My parents, other teachers, dear friends from my youth and more recent years...all critical to my daily survival. But there is another unsung group of people that mean so much to me--my students. Every year I spend hours and hours talking and interacting with these amazing young people and then I am forced to watch them leave and wander out into the world to find their futures. Don't get me wrong. I am happy. I am proud. But I am also sad. And then, when I least expect it, something wonderful happens. They come back home to visit us!
Places
Ok, I have several favorite places in an everyday sense--bookstores, fabric stores, anywhere with roses--but in terms of favorite destinations there is one place that I find myself returning to again and again. In fact, I like the place so much that I named my firstborn after it (lucky for her it isn't Detroit or Pittsburg). So, where is this magical land...? Happily it is only seven hours up the coast. Cambria is a tiny oasis just north of San Luis Obispo and just south of the famed Hearst Castle. It is known for the simple things--calm beaches, quaintly picturesque shops, scrumptious restaurants--but also boasts a few unexpected delights, like a group of resident sea lions who spend their days basking in the afternoon sun.
Things
This list could be huge...where to begin? As mentioned above I love roses, but not like other people love roses...I love the idea of roses. I love what roses mean in terms of shared memory and experience. I love that Newland Archer could see a cluster of yellow roses and know instinctively that they should be sent to Ellen Olenska instead of May Welland. Flowers in general have a mood, meaning, history...in antiquity they even had their own language. For me they represent a time past--a world of nuance and grandeur that I respect and miss even though I never really got to live in it. So whether the roses are in my garden or on my tea cups or just a picture in my mind, they remind me to move a bit slower, take a breath, be present in the moment.
Now, all that being said...roses aren't actually my favorite flower--that honorific belongs to the Calla Lily.
Now, all that being said...roses aren't actually my favorite flower--that honorific belongs to the Calla Lily.