A Writer First //

experience & creativity

Professional Experience >>

I am an award-winning writer, researcher, interactive designer, director, and producer with over twenty years of experience creating interactive and linear productions in fire investigation, firefighter health and safety, and roadway incident response safety that reaches over 550,000 people. Through Unreal Creative‘s longtime partnership with Stonehouse Media, I write, produce, and direct training programs and applications for Stonehouse on CFITrainer.Net (International Association of Arson Investigators), FHLN.net (National Fallen Firefighters Foundation), RSLN.org (Emergency Responder Safety Institute), and FMGlobalFireServiceResources.com (FM Global). I am also the interactive designer for these sites. I have contributed articles and op-eds to industry publications, including Fire & Arson Investigator Journal (circulation 10,000), The Pennsylvania Fireman (circulation 10,000), and Fire News. My work is always part of a team effort with longtime collaborators in production, programming, graphic design, and content expertise.

For my agency, Unreal Creative, owned in partnership with my sister (creative director), I am the interactive designer and lead content developer. I create websites and marketing materials for a wide range of clients. Client sites include authors (Anne Rice, Christopher Rice, Tanisia Moore, K.E. Lewis, Trenise, Lynne Curry, Patti Calkosz) companies and entrepreneurs (ParkVantage, Treadmill Max, Trek Healthy, Ideavillage, American Medical Products, Fíor Solar), and nonprofits and professional associations (ResponderSafety.com, firearson.com). I taught two “Author Websites 101” classes for The Manuscript Academy to bring what I have learned as an interactive designer to authors, illustrators, and agents.

I began my career in fire investigation training in 1998 writing, designing, and producing an interactive fire investigation, interFIRE VR, produced by Stonehouse Media. For almost 20 years, I have been the writer/director/producer for CFITrainer.Net, the premiere online fire investigation training network serving 150,000+ registered users. For CFITrainer.Net, I have written and produced more than 80 online training modules, 100 podcast episodes, and thousands of pages of text including the IAAI’s 90+ page Fire Scene Evidence Collection Guide (iaaievidenceguide.com). I expanded my online training work into three other networks delivering high quality, interactive modules on firefighter health and safety for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, roadway incident response safety for the Emergency Responder Safety Institute, and fire protection systems for FM. For these projects, I have worked with the world’s foremost fire service experts.

I have interviewed hundreds of fire and law enforcement experts, both on and off camera. I maintain warm professional relationships with fire chiefs, IAAI Certified Fire Investigators, fire protection engineers, fire training directors, executives at many national fire service organizations, and dozens of public and private sector fire investigators and other technical experts.

I developed extensive experience and sharp skills in media production and marketing over two decades. I created national product marketing campaigns for businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profits. As an interactive designer with a strong grasp of marketing, I have built award-winning websites, written website content, and designed web applications since 1994. I wrote and directed video productions for just as long, including national PSAs, instructionals, documentary case studies, shorts, commercials, and over 150 online training modules.

As an active developer and champion of “distance learning” methods for years, I quickly embraced the explosion of interest in virtual events that began during the pandemic. I have produced numerous virtual events. I co-designed and project-managed a live classes and events application for CFITrainer.Net with Zoom integration and a custom database tied to third party association management software. Complex applications I have designed include CFITrainer.Net, ResponderSafety.com, RSLN.org, and FHLN.net as well as multiple interactive CD-ROMs in a range of public safety and emergency response topics (interFIRE VR, Post-Blast VRT, Explosives Disposal Safety, Bomb Threat Response: An Interactive Planning Tool for Schools, and Forward Edge). My work, including two children’s products (Grandma Ollie’s Morphabet Soup and Your Fire Escape with Safe-T-Bear) won numerous awards, including the Telly, Astra, AXIEM, and OMNI.

I hold a Master’s in Public Policy in human services, labor, and education policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science with a certificate in women’s studies from Duke University. I was born in western Maryland and have been a Jersey girl since I was 3. I have two amazing Dans, one big and one not quite as big, who are my life.

My list of specific project credits is available upon request.