I use the first person in many of my works --- such as its name was Penelope; The Roar of Destiny; and Dorothy Abrona McCrae --because it is a way of connecting the reader to the narrator and because it allows me to focus on the details of the narrator's immediate environment, the small things, the seemingly inconsequential events that trigger memories and thoughts. Or in works such as Ask for Sanctuary, the narrator can speak freely in a situation where she does not know for whom else she speaks.
My female characters are primary because they tell their story themselves. Like an actor studying a role, I put myself into the mind of a narrator as I write. I am her when I am writing her words. However, she is not me. These are works of fiction. The many individual narrators I have created speak for themselves, and their opinions do not necessary reflect those of their creator.
I have been writing experimental computer-mediated literature since 1986 when Uncle Roger, a three part hypernarrative was begun on Art Com Electronic Network on the WELL. Writing on the web, I think of my words as "public literature". I am also aware of the work's existence in the wider whole of the web. There is a powerful consciousness of the unseen audience accessing the work night and day around the world.
I have had work published by Eastgate Systems; E.P. Dutton, Tanam Press, St. Martin's Press, Seal Press, MIT Press, the National Endowment for the Arts website, Springer-Verlag, the Poetry Center's American Poetry Archives; Heresies; the Blue Moon Review; and the Iowa Review Web.
My work has also been exhibited internationally, including: The Boston CyberArts Festival; The Eighth International Symposium of Electronic Arts; Siggraph; Franklin Furnace; San Francisco Art Institute; Tisch School of the Arts, New York University; A Space, Toronto; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil; P.P.O.W.; The Women's Studio Workshop; the San Antonio Art Institute; The Los Angeles Institute for Contemporary Art; The Houston Center for Photography; Artemesia Gallery; and the Hammer Museum.
Like many artists, my work looks at society in multiple ways -- ranging from the bawdy feminist take on office politics in 500 3X5 Cards and Other Stories to the poetic sorrow expressed in Ask for Sanctuary. For all societies -- from ancient Greek to contemporary times -- the freedom to make art in such diverse ways is of primary importance in the creation of vibrant and lasting cultures.