A Short History of vonCookie
vonCookie is a nickname from my childhood. it is also the name of my alter ego, one that I started in grad school some ten+ years ago. without vonCookie around to voice my frustration at the process of getting a doctorate, I probably never would have graduated. but I did.
and soon after getting my PhD, I put vonCookie away so that I could pursue a career in academia. It took four whole years of searching, but I finally landed a coveted tenure-track job at a public university, which was exactly what I wanted.
once I took the job, I instantly felt trapped. I forced myself to accept that I had married “the Profession” and that in doing so, I had willingly given up the things that I had most loved in my life before grad school: writing poetry and memoir, affection towards others, endless hours of thinking about things other than literature. all of that was gone. I turned my creativity toward teaching and writing articles, and stood idly by while my soul turned to dust.
…And Then a Miracle Happened…
I fell in love.
I fell in love, and my partner fell in love right back.
we got married. I left university teaching. I switched careers. I moved back to the place that I will always consider home. and I started writing again. I started living again. I started feeling again. and suddenly, there she was again: vonCookie, taking it to the next level.
Welcome to One Tough vonCookie 3.0
writing pseudonymously since 2005… with a seven-year break… if only to gather some grist for the mill.
enjoy!