More or Less of Me

I am a queer writer, teacher, certified pizzaiola, musician, mom, professional chef, and former software exec living in San Francisco.

A fourth-generation Vermonter, I spent some of my most formative years on a commune, a big farm, then a smaller farm when we moved to New Hampshire. I went to a fancy prep school on a full scholarship and graduated magna cum laude and won the Williamson Medal Award for Creative Writing as well as High Honors in English and Art. I went to Brown University and earned two degrees simultaneously. The pieces I've published are in my high school's literary magazine; my own book of collected short stories entitled, From What I Can Tell (by my 17 year-old self); Brown's literary magazine; and two op-ed pieces in the Rhode Island Journal in response to the homophobic backlash related to the AIDS epidemic of the mid-80s.

My essay, “Stroke Jokes Are No Laughing Matter,” has been published in The Mindful Word (of course the editor changes things, including the title) and The Mighty has accepted my essay too, just waiting to press the button.

After spending more than a decade cooking professionally in San Francisco, I fell into tech accidentally and ended up spending almost twenty years working in software. I had a plan to open my own pizzeria in my neighborhood, but severe neck and nerve pain meant a trip to Vienna to have the surgery I needed. During that surgery, I had a stroke.

What happened after that -- massive changes in my life as well as my family and the friends around me -- is the subject of the memoir I am writing right now. If I've piqued your interest, check out my blog.

Thank you for reading this.

- Eliza

P.S. My right hand used to be dominant, but it never fully recovered from my stroke. Since then, my left hand has taken over. Now I rely on my left to write, text, and my illustrations are all done with my left hand.

P.P.S. Cooking is my passion - you'll find food related posts and recipes in my defunct blog, Red Apron Pizzeria.