Trudy and her husband Billy Hale, an Emmy Award winning film and television director, traveled and lived on location, filming in France, England, Spain, and Thailand. While browsing the internet, the couple discovered an antebellum farmhouse on the James River. They moved to Virginia and Trudy renovated the historic home and opened The Porches in July, 2006. Trudy received her MFA from Antioch University, taught writing at Pierce College in L.A. and Longwood University in Virginia. She is currently Editor-in-Chief of Streetlight Magazine, a journal of literature and art. streetlightmag.com