Resume

Ben-Jammin, Ben-Jolly, Affable-Ben and Ham Bone

I was raised among artists and performers. And I loved going to work with my parents. As a kid, I got to help my mom edit Nickelodeon Magazine (and see each edition before any of my friends). Despite the noise, I often fell asleep next to the printing presses, dreaming of the day my own work would pass through their hands.

With my dad and stepmom, I found the stage - but even though I spent a lot of time up there, I preferred to stay behind the scenes. They owned a dance studio and, rather than recitals, we did three major productions every year. Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Arabian Nights... Nutcracker happened annually. We worked closely with dancers from the NYC Ballet. My house was basically a prop studio. We had a pirate ship in the den and Cinderella's carriage in the dining room... We were always the first to arrive and the last to leave and I loved it. Even when I had to do the janitorial work.

My dad manages print shops, so, naturally, we did all of the marketing design ourselves. We would stay up half the night designing posters and stapling programs together. That was my favorite part. While the dancers were telling a story on stage, we had a story to tell on paper. And paper is where I've found comfort in my life. Now, I write books - mostly young adult urban fantasy... my need to escape this world through magic must be strong.

I also paint. Another thing I'm grateful to have had guidance in as a kid. My grandmother was an artist and, now that she's gone, my uncle (a pottery teacher) helps me keep that dream alive - along with my dream of living an adventurous life. My uncle used to couch surf. He had his guitar and a blanket and his art supplies and that was all he needed in the world at the time. It inspired me. After a decade in an unhappy marriage, I left - traveling the country in a camper van. With time to look at myself, and nowhere to escape myself, I went on a spiritual journey. And I came out a different person. In many ways. The most noticeable being my gender transition. I was born female. And it's something that I embrace, rather than casting aside who I once was. I wouldn't be who I am today without experiencing the life that I did. It certainly hasn't made life any easier, but it definitely kept things interesting.

On a related note, I want to add that, despite the name "Changeling", The Lemurian Saga does not touch on issues of gender transition, and I do not have plans for it to include that in the future. I do have a book coming soon that features a transgender main character, and it is labeled as such. I know that, even though this is my life, not everyone wants to read about it (whether accepting of it or not), so my LGBTQ+ books will always be presented in a transparent light.

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