About the author

BJ Roche is a writer and teacher who lives in Western Massachusetts. She’s a senior lecturer in the Journalism Program at UMass Amherst, where she teaches writing, new media and entrepreneurial journalism, and serves as intern coordinator. She has written for many publications, including The Boston Globe, Yankee, Commonwealth Magazine, and lifetuner.org, and publishes a website for midlife women called fiftyshift.com, where many of her posts also appear.