I was born in northern Germany and moved to Berlin in the early nineties, where I raised three kids and became a teacher for English and Creative Writing at a secondary school. At the age of 44, I decided to become a student again and two years later, I earned my MFA in Fiction at Sierra Nevada College. I translated my thesis into German and it was published, but hopefully there will be an English version some day.
I write in English because it feels right. Most of the books that have inspired me had been written in English, also I am especially fond of American short stories. From time to time, when I need structure and routine and something to come back to in the morning, I write a novel. But what I am really proud of is my shorter stuff. It’s much more fun to rewrite and revise them than novels. Moreover, they seem larger in every way, except for word count. You know what I mean.
With my German book on craft I want to give writers, who can’t afford to study in the US and/or don’t feel comfortable writing and reading in English, the opportunity to learn what I’ve learned on my journey of becoming a better writer. Nowadays I am mostly interested in inspiring and making my students understand that it is surprisingly easy to tell wonderful stories if they stop asking themselves where they are heading to and whether they do it right.
