Jean is a lifelong resident of New York State’s Mid-Hudson Valley. Enchanted by the mystical, artistic, and literary history of the Catskill Mountains, she’s planted her roots deep into the land of Rip Van Winkle and Icabod Crane and has been writing stories since she was nine. She has a few ghost stories of her own to tell.

After studying English Literature and becoming a certified teacher as an undergraduate, she completed her Masters in Public Administration and embarked on a long career in service to people with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Opening her heart to those without a real home, she first served as a direct care worker and, ultimately, became the hospital director. Over the years, she educated a wide-range of audiences, published her work, and presented nationally and internationally in Paris, Melbourne, Dublin, and Vancouver.

Drawing on her love of the Hudson Valley and her work experiences, she writes from historical facts, weaving in dramatic fictional stories of women’s journeys, with a touch of magical realism. Her characters are often engaged in discovering the meaning of home and standing up for those who have been wronged. Imagine Sue Monk Kidd’s stories of self-discovery meeting Fiona Davis’s women traversing societal expectations in iconic settings.

Her literary heroes, heroines, and influences include a motley crew of Romantic poets, Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, Richard Brautigan, William Faulkner, David Mitchell, Toni Morrison, Maggie O’Farrell, Elizabeth Strout, and Olga Tokarczuk. She is currently seeking representation for her debut novel, Gramoon’s Book of Healing, set in the early twentieth century in and around Woodstock. She is the author of a dozen published short stories in various genres and over a hundred and fifty commentaries on mental health issues.

When she isn’t writing, Jean spends her time teaching yoga, reading, walking the rail trails with her women friends, and making a home with her husband.