A native of Iowa, Dene has lived in North Carolina for two decades. She is a graduate of

The University of Wisconsin Green Bay and has written professionally in numerous

genres, including corporate publications, executive speeches, newspaper feature writing,

and commercial videos. She has co-authored two books of poetry, An Explosion of Toads  

and Swirls on a Green Plate. She currently lives and writes in Winston-Salem, NC.  She

has four daughters and six grandsons.