Amber's Bio
Creating the Life of My Dreams
If you really knew me ... you'd know that I dislike "boxing myself in" through the very act of defining myself, but if you're to know a little about me I must use description. I’m a strong woman, positive and happy by nature, who loves to explore, create, express, and enjoy life as fully as possible. I am highly verbal (I like to joke that the last thing about me that falls asleep every night is my mouth) and love to write.
I am talented and multi-faceted, having the ability to succeed at most things; it all depends on the amount of desire behind my learning process. I love doing things, as opposed to being things. Therefore, tools - defined as anything that helps a person do something else - are the best presents for me.
I am a mother and grandmother. As time goes on I define myself less and less by the roles I play in life, yet I don’t want to forget that’s a big part of who I am. I have strong mothering energy and have often been described by others as an “earth goddess.” People say they feel safe with me, and “held.”
It is in nature – the forest, by the lake, or the ocean – that I feel most centered and in a place of deep communion with the universe. It is where I feel both infinitely small and infinitely important. And I’m o.k. with that paradox.
Writing and reading have always been an integral part of my life. As long as I can remember, I have practically worshiped the smell and texture of books. As a little girl, my nightstand was piled high with fairy tales, mysteries, fictional history, poetry, and short stories. My mother would shake her head and ask me how I could possibly read so many books at the same time. I would just shrug; how could I not? I thought she, a high school English teacher, would understand; reading and writing was like breathing.
Photography is one way I explore and express the awesome beauty I perceive in the world around me. Favorite photography genres include: Natural Light Portraits, Close-Ups, Flowers & Plants, Seascapes and Landscapes. I am inspired by photography that moves me emotionally, makes me stop, makes me think, take a step back, or hold my breath. I am inspired by photography that makes me "wish I'd done that."
Some of The Things I Do & Have Done
• Editor & Publisher, The Writer's Eye Magazine
• Writer, fiction, nonfiction & poetry (see Writing page)
• Freelance Editor (see Editing page)
• Curriculum Development, Training & Teaching: Journaling,
• Writing, Desktop Publishing, & Photoshop
• Management & Special Projects Consultant specializing in
• Office Efficiency & Business Processes
• CEO, Life By Design Systems, Inc., providing custom
• database systems for education & small business
• Author, XPress It: A Step-by-Step Guide to QuarkXPress 3.0,
• a college textbook, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1992
Education
• M.A., Stanford University, Design & Development of
• Educational Programs, 1991
• B.S., University of San
Francisco, Organizational Behavior,
• 1989
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure.
Helen Keller