Journalist · Author · Developer

SherriCruz

Driven by curiosity

Journalist with more than two decades of experience across reporting, editing, and freelance writing. Technology reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune. Editor at the Orange County Register, led a team of six reporters/interns, produced two weekly university sections. Business reporter at the Orange County Business Journal. Career launched by successfully pitching an Internet column in 1996 to the Las Vegas Business Press. Extensive magazine freelance contributor. Author. App developer.

Selected Stories

OC Register
Things Great and Small
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OC Register
Woodward's Wormholes
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OC Register
New Boss at Biggest Club on Campus
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OC Register
Harry Potter & Student Life
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OC Register
Preserving Native Languages
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More Magazine
Skateboard Mom — More Magazine, April 2006
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Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Walk of Fame Star Gives Buddy Holly a Permanent Mark
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OC Register
Science at Play: The Khine Lab at UCI
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Books

Seeking Representation
Pig Popular
Pig Popular
Chapter book · Ages 6–9

Pig Popular is the undisputed surfing champ of Piggington Beach. He loves riding waves, skateboarding to school, and learning new tricks—especially alongside his best friend, Wooten. But when Summerfest brings Mimsy Sage to town, everything changes. Stylish, wildly talented, and a champion surfer from Pigmaui, Mimsy Sage quickly becomes the trendsetter everyone wants to follow—including Wooten. Pig Popular gets into trouble when he becomes jealous, feels left out, and decides to wear a pair of knee-high, four-inch platform boots that all the pigs are wearing.

In the Works
Rachel
Middle-grade fiction · Area 51 · Extraterrestrial contact

Rachel moved to the middle of the desert - Population: 16 - where spy planes rattle her trailer and tourists hunt for UFOs. She's got pie money, a newspaper column, and zero friends. Until Ant shows up. Together, they decode a mysterious map, discover her rancher neighbor is a shapeshifter, and learn that Rachel can hear something no one else can: a humming from an extraterrestrial pod hidden at the local diner, owned by Thalians, ocean dwellers disguised as humans. The pod has a message. The government is hunting the pod. And Rachel's own estranged government-scientist father is leading the hunt.

In the Works
Pig Popular: Summertime Sadness
Chapter book series · Book 2

The second installment in the Pig Popular chapter book series. This time, Pig Popular quits surfing. Will the surfing champ ever surf again?

The Literary Roads App

Literary Roads

Developed with an assist from Claude Code — a passion project at the intersection of literature and travel. Road trip planner for book lovers. Explore ghost towns, lighthouses, and other curated road trips. Find bookstores, coffee shops & literary landmarks. Share recs. Rate pit stops. Co-write stories at coffee shops across America. Or join Library Cat in the Literary Roads Library and reflect on your latest read, log a "read next" book, share a book postcard on social media, and collect author cards. Don't forget to check out the Literary Roads Gazette for featured road trips, literary festivals, and literary happenings. Coming Soon — theliteraryroads.com

Programming Skills
6-Week Coding Bootcamp
COBOL — AAS in Computer Programming
AI-Assisted Coding
Prompt Engineering