About C. J.

“The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.” – Alfred Adler

Carol has spent over 30 years as a teacher, counselor, administrator, consultant, and mentor in schools in the east, west, south, and north United States as well as consulting with schools around the world. 

Her students have been her teachers, sharing their questions, revelations, skepticism, disappointments, triumphs, and follies.  The diversity of each student, every school, and unique way of thinking have been a constant source of delight and education.  Students of privilege, dependent and neglected children, scholarship students, legacy students, international students, and students from the inner city or upscale penthouses, rural farmlands or country estates, reservations or reform schools of all ethnicities and circumstance have taught her about the world and what it could be.  The stories embodied by each individual she has taught, coached, or counseled have created a kaleidoscope of empathy and wonder. 

Carol has delivered keynotes and workshops on community, bullying, leadership, diversity,  character, families, ethics, resilience, abuse, and the school as village.  She is also a recognized consultant and expert witness regarding student services and support, best practice school policies and procedures, multicultural awareness and collaboration, boundaries, and bullying in schools.

She has written a textbook, Quests and Quandaries, and a supplementary book, Personal Quests and Quandaries, for her nationally recognized series of courses on Human Development.  Carol was on the teaching faculty of The Association of Boarding Schools for 20 years, sharing her insight and respect for the students she had taught and known.  Her book, Building A Residential Curriculum, is used in schools in the U.S, Canada, and internationally. She has written several short stories, but The Saga of the Seventh Generation is her first trilogy of novels.

In her spare time, Carol raises chickens, grandchildren, and asparagus.  She lives in Durango, Colorado where she enjoys the amazing wilderness and the historic diversity of the land.  Her family is a true hodgepodge of the seventh generation including Swedish, British, French, Navajo, Ute, Cheyenne, Mexican, Korean, Russian, and down home Hillbilly. 

More personally…

I am a midwestern girl who broke out and have lived in Missouri, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, Colorado, Kansas, New York, New Jersey, California, Oregon, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and we have a house in Mexico. I have planted daffodils in every one of those places except Mexico. I have planted cactus there.

I love to travel and have been to India, New Zealand, Jordan, Canada, Italy, France, Scotland, Great Britain, Mexico, Switzerland, and Tortola. I walked the 96 miles of the West Highland Way in Scotland.

I love the people of history – the kids, the women, the dispossessed, the oddballs, the idealists, and the heroes, big and small. I can’t remember dates or battles for the life of me.

Five of my grandbabies are Native American and I have come to know and deeply respect that part of my life. It has made me more humble and a lot smarter.

I am fascinated by anything that is different than what I am used to – people, places, food, religions, hair, art, dress, and accents.

I value kindness, honesty, and empathy. I write my characters from the inside out so that we can all unravel the similarities of our uniqueness.

My grandfather was a hillbilly turned grand adventurer, always with a list in his pocket of things he needed for his next project. This is hereditary.

I was probably born in the wrong century – I knit, raise chickens, sing in my garden, love sweat lodges, cherish a big family dinner, and am probably happiest when I am outdoors looking at birds, rivers, sunsets, and clouds. My house has more decks and porches than indoor space.

I am always speaking up and standing up and stirring things up, but I am actually an introvert who could stare off into space for hours. I know a lot of amazing people and love the ones who really know me. This book’s for them.

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri; I now live in Durango, Colorado.