Some things

• I live in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. It was meant to be temporary, but more than a decade later, this noisy and gritty little corner of midtown is home.

• I’m originally from the Seattle area. Raised in Federal Way, high school in Tacoma, early adulthood in Seattle and Issaquah. I also lived in SoCal for a year (did not like) and Chicago for a year (loved, especially the winters!).

• I’m married to my high school sweetheart—when I refer to Anth here on the website, that's him.

• I’ve never really felt called to be a mom. I feel extremely happy with our little family of two plus an elderly dog.

• I’m a New York Times bestselling romance author under the pen name Lauren Layne.

• Before that I worked T-Mobile’s web marketing/e-commerce team. The corporate world wasn’t for me, but I learned enough about websites to build dozens of sites along side Anth over at Last Word Designs.

  • But my true passion is minimalist and text-focused websites like this one. They’re fast, easy, light-weight, and nobody wants to hear it, but in my experience these “basic” little sites perform far better. They have better SEO, lower bounce-rates, and get more page views than “fancier” sites that look impressive.

• This is one of my favorite places on the internet. So is this. “Fits on all your shitty screens.”

• Related: as the publishing and creator world has become increasingly performative, I find myself more drawn to the written word than ever. You can have your Reels, TikTok’s and podcasts, but I thin there are few things more elegant than words on a page.

• INTJ. Enneagram 5. I love all that personality test stuff. It’s nice to have a language for our quirks, an invitation to more deeply explore what makes us us.

• I watch all eight of the Harry Potter movies every October and look forward to it all year.

• I’m a homebody who does not enjoy really travel. If you offer me an all-expenses trip anywhere in the world, I’ll probably ask if I can stay home and spend the money on a new throw blanket, purple iMac, and a soft pretzel.

• I love olives, and fresh tomatoes are the only food I won’t eat.

• Pluviophile.

• When I was writing Miranda in Retrograde, I had to research astrology. I went from thinking it was nonsense to finding myself and becoming the happiest I’ve ever been. No big deal.

  • Cancer Rising, Aries Sun, Taurus Moon.

• I don’t watch much TV, but when I do, I mostly rotate among my favorites: White Collar, New Girl, Psych, Grimm, and Happy Endings.

• I always want to watch movies, but I’m never really in the mood. Unless it’s Enchanted or Maverick or Pride & Prejudice. I also really like the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma.

• August 13, 2024 is my silversary—the last day I quit trying to cover my silvery gray hair with dark dye. I was 41, and my only regret is not doing it sooner.

• My favorite color is black, my favorite state is Maine, my favorite FRIEND is Ross.

• After years of letting this website lurk dormant until I figured out its niche, I decided to let it be anti-niche. A place for all the things that make me, and always changing as I change. Part journal, part musings, part commonplace book, part studio, part creation, part portfolio, part curation. Probably some lists, like this one.