themendingverse

Cassandra Lane Rich worked as a reporter for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans before testing her faith and nerve to launch a freelance writing career. She published essays in The Source, BET Magazine, Gambit, The Louisiana Weekly, Everything But the Burden (Broadway Books/Random House), The Bellingham Review and Daddy, Can I Tell You Something (Selah). In 2001, she left the bayous and mosquitoes of her beloved home state and moved to Los Angeles, where she earned an MFA from Antioch University. She taught English and journalism to all manner of the teen species in east and south Los Angeles, and is currently an academic advisor and college essay editor for high school seniors across Los Angeles and Orange counties. She is finishing a book-length manuscript, The Mending, which inspired TheMendingVerse blog, which uses as its foundation Ecclesiastes 12 and John 1. Cassandra and her family have recently settled in Long Beach, California, where she and hubby entertain dreams of renovating and refurbishing their small 1953 California ranch-style "cottage." All manner of tea is another one of Cassandra's indulgences, and she is working to extend her cup to others in the name of service through what is now just a concept: Harmony Tea Bar.