Kristen studied at Northwestern University at the faculty of Journalism. In 1979 she became a Bachelor of Science.
From assistant editor to managing editor Cahners Public Company, Chicago, 1979-1981, contributing editor, 1981-1983; copy editor Insurance Regulatory Information System: A Journal About Women, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1986-1987, editor, 1988-1991, fiction editor, 1991-1997; Board directors Piedmont Council for Arts, Charlottesville. Author: (novel) Felicity, 1994, (poetry) Coming into this World, 1992; author of poems.