12 Things From 2023

2023 was one of the worst years of my life (not the worst–that was 8th grade) and yet lots of good things still happened this year. Maybe it was the most dramatic year of my life, since every day seemed…

Excellence In Journalism Award

I’m honored to be a recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2023 Excellence in Journalism Award for my article in Alta Magazine, Look Out or You’ll Be Poisoned, about a murder mystery surrounding a poisoned marshmallow. You can read…

Spruceton Inn Artist Residency

This November, I was blessed to spend five dreamy days in upstate New York at a residency at the Spruceton Inn. It was very productive, much-needed break after a crazy year. Thank you Casey Scieszka for having me.

My First New Yorker Article

I’m thrilled to share my first piece for The New Yorker. It’s about the Beat poet Lenore Kandel, whose erotic poetry collection, The Love Book, led to San Francisco’s last and longest obscenity trial. Read more about this story of…

Article On Anaïs Nin

My article on Anais Nin for Alta Magazine is now online! For decades, Anaïs Nin was married to two different men on separate coasts of the United States. Neither man knew about the other. She called this complicated situation her…

Short Story: Jack and the Candlestick

I have a short story up at Marrow Magazine titled JACK AND THE CANDLESTICK. It’s about a ghost stuck in a candlestick, a medieval executioner, and a peasant girl. There’s also an interview with me about the story that you…

Rudolf Lanzendorfer (1939-2023)

RIP to my dad, Rudolf Lanzendorfer (1939-2023). My dad passed away this weekend from complications with cancer. It’s a very surreal feeling. I was/am a Daddy’s girl and we were very close. My dad was born in San Francisco in…

Essay In Prairie Schooner

Very happy to have an essay in the most recent issue Prairie Schooner. It’s about my experiences dealing with the California wild fires, including evacuations and the ongoing weirdness and tragedy of climate change.

Alta Article: The Mystery of the Poisoned Marshmallow

My newest article for Alta Magazine is about a murder mystery that happened in Carmel in 1914. A writer named Alice MacGowan discovered a mysterious box of marshmallows sitting on her back porch. She thought they were from a friend.…