The greatest reward of being a freelance writer is that you can go where your life leads you. My writing career started on a farm in upstate New York where I wrote about living off the land. Dozens of magazine articles and two books grew out of those fertile years. Heirloom Gardening was one of the first books about genetic diversity for a lay audience. Re/​Uses, a lively and innovative look at recycling, had over 100,000 copies in print.

When my oldest son was born in 1983, my interest shifted to human development and relationships. I've written about psychology, child development and family relationships for publications such as Reader's Digest, TV Guide, Redbook, Working Mother, Woman's Day, Sesame Street Parents Guide and many others. My essays have appeared in Newsweek and the Op-Ed page of the New York Times, and I've won the CMP Media Award and the Easter Seals EDI Award.

The Internet became a household word about the time my youngest became toilet trained. For ten years, I wrote about how software and cyberspace were transforming American families. My articles appeared in Home PC, Sesame Street Parents Guide and Family PC.

After all three of those publications went out of business, I started my own column, Growing Up Online, a monthly column targeted at regional parenting publications. I also went back to school to study ethics and how it might look online. I received my Masters in Practical Philosophy from Bowling Green State University in May of 2006.

My column, Growing Up Online, provides practical, down-to-earth advice about topics such Twitter, digital footprints, avatars, Google, cell phones, digital photos, student plagiarism and dozens of other potential problems. Most of all, I provide parents with much-needed guidance about how to help children think about what they are doing when they are sitting in front of a computer so they are as s safe, responsible and ethical online as they are in the real world.

What's next? My work at Bowling Green ignited an interest in ethics as an adaptation to new environments. My column allows me to follow the emergence of ethical norms in cyberspace. With co-author, Donald Scherer, I am working on a manuscript about five virtues that allow people to thrive despite change and conflict. I've also developing skills as a grant writer on behalf of the Springfield Schools Foundation .

I continue to be an indefatiguable researcher and an attentive interviewer. I love translating what experts know into something that will be useful and even life-changing for lay readers. I've also had extensive media experience with both radio and television including appearances on the Today Show, Good Morning America and the David Letterman Show. And I'm developing my skills as a spokesperson who can talk about the risks and rewards for families online.