A native of Chicago, Illinois, Bernadette moved into the International House at the University of Chicago in 2004.  The multicultural environment and gothic architecture of I-House and the U of C campus inspired her to write her first murder mystery novel, The Poetry of Murder (Oak Tree Press, February 2008).

Due to a difficult childhood, Bernadette did not finish the sixth grade and never attended high school.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1993 and her Master of Science degree in Technical Communication and Information Design from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in 2003.  Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in Technical Communication at IIT and has an expected graduation date of 2010.  She plans to pursue a career in academia.

For eight years, Bernadette worked as a technical writing and website designer for a major financial institution until she was laid off in December 2005.  Prior to being laid off, Bernadette started writing The Poetry of Murder, and finished it in 2006. 

As a resident of I-House, she served as a Representative-at-Large on the Residents’ Council from 2004 to 2006 and as the election coordinator in 2006.

She approaches her writing in a systematic manner that involves developing detailed outlines and character descriptions.  Some of Bernadette’s favorite authors include Walter Mosley, James Baldwin, Agatha Christie, and Victor Hugo.

Bernadette has been an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority since 1999.  She has served as her chapter’s webmaster from 2004 to 2007 and as a corresponding secretary from 2004 to 2005.

Bernadette enjoys a host of activities such as going to the movies, hiking and traveling. Her favorite film genres include film noir, science fiction, action/adventure and murder mysteries.  For Bernadette, the seasons are divided up according to the various sporting events that she enjoys.  Fall and Winter mean hoping that the Chicago Bears will get a decent quarterback and that the Chicago Bulls will get to the NBA championships again. Summer and Spring mean rooting for James Blake to win a championship tennis match and watching Tiger Woods have a winning season of golf.

The Poetry of Murder is the first in a continuing series of mysteries featuring the protagonist, Geneva Anderson. 

Bernadette is a resident of Chicago and lives in the Hyde Park community.