Sheesh--why does the title "grandmother" always come to mind first? Maybe because being grandma has turned out to be one the very very best roles of my life? Anyway, I'm Gwen. I live in Oxnard, California, which is a town/city on the coast between LA and Santa Barbara. Divorced, four kids, four grandkids from the children I gave birth to and a multitude of kids I claim through friends. Granma Gwen is my favorite name. I was an artsy geeky kid before geek was a word--figured I would either be an "old maid" academic who would die alone in an apartment filled with cats--or live in the Village, write, suffer, have scandalous affairs, die young and leave behind an incredible body of work. Or maybe I would be Margaret Bourke White? (Dressed in early noncorporate Banana Republic.)

Instead, after a mobile childhood as a Marine Corps brat, I ended up married and by age 23 was settled in Oxnard--with 2 kids at that time. Not exactly what I planned but turns out Mick is right and you don't always get what you want--but you get what you need.

I write--care about a helluva lot of things and really like to think about all sorts of shit and endlessly process those things for everyone's delight and enlightenment. Most of the money I've made in writing has been in nonfiction--mostly how to raise your teen kind of things.

Right now I work at the family business as marketing person and receptionist (hey, these is hard times), so that I have health insurance. Feel in love a little over a year ago which still strikes me as amazing, unlikely, and damned wonderful.

This world is filled with beauty and laughter and horrendous pain, kindness, stupidity--my hope is to contribute less to the pain and stupidity and more to the kindness and laughter. Working on it.

Bio goes on because I'm still alive. When I'm not someone else will finish it.