*Please note this profile was written by Baker. We thought it was fitting to let author and alumna Christine A. Baker '91 tell her own story as she prepares for the release of her book: Raising Artemis in December 2026. She will return to Mercy on Dec. 15 for a special celebration. Please save the date*
When Christine A. Baker '91 walked through the doors of Mercy High School in the summer of 2026, she was returning for the first time since graduation. More than three decades had passed. The cafeteria, senior lounge and locker room had changed, but the warmth of the place felt familiar. She had the unexpected sensation of coming home.
"Somewhere along the way, I think I had forgotten what it meant to be a Mercy alumna," Baker said. "Returning to Mercy reminded me that those years weren’t simply a chapter I had finished. The friendships, values and confidence I developed there became part of who I am."
In December, Baker will return home to Mercy once again as a published author.
At Mercy, Baker played basketball, volleyball and softball, joined more clubs than she can count, and found friends who remain important to her. She remembers extra help in math nearly every day, Sister Eleanor checking skirt lengths in the hallways, and a senior trip to Washington, D.C., during a government shutdown. Sleepovers, beach days and road trips grew out of friendships formed at school.
"That time in my life helped set the standard for what I believed true friendship could - and should - be," she said.
Mercy also gave Baker room to develop different parts of herself. Physical education teachers Ms. Gilmartin and Ms. Garofoli celebrated her athletic ability when girls’ sports were still fighting for recognition. Mrs. Garstka, her English teacher, recognized the writer. Baker already loved books, thanks to her mother, but Mrs. Garstka taught her to examine character, plot and meaning. On one paper, the teacher wrote in red ink that Baker could be a writer someday. Baker saved it; the paper is still in her memory box.
Ms. Freeman, Baker’s homeroom and Spanish teacher, brought humor and care to the start of each day. Baker felt seen by her, not just as a student arriving for class, but as a person. Only after graduating did Baker fully appreciate the academic preparation Mercy had provided. College-level papers and demanding workloads felt manageable because she had learned to structure an argument, manage her time and think critically.
Baker wanted to write, but also needed a practical way to earn a living. She majored in Communication Arts, with minors in Philosophy and Public Relations. Her career took her through public relations and higher education marketing in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. While working full-time, she commuted to Wesleyan University at night to earn a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. She eventually started her own consulting firm, creating more room for creative work.
In 2008, the University of Nebraska Press published her book Why She Plays: The World of Women’s Basketball. She sold a feature-film screenplay based on the life of Emily Dickinson and continued writing while helping authors with websites, marketing and book launches. Her work has earned honors in journalism and screenwriting, as well as a Distinguished Alumni Award and Athletic Hall of Fame induction from Mount Saint Mary College.
The varied career has taught Baker to define success on her own terms. Earlier in her working life, 90- to 100-hour weeks and migraines made clear that hard work needed to be meaningful and leave space for the rest of her life.
"What means the most to me is that I have crafted a career that fits who I am," she said. "It allows me to use both sides of my brain - the creative and the pragmatic - and to bring together writing, storytelling, marketing, strategy and entrepreneurship. I have built a career that supports all of me rather than asking me to sacrifice the rest of myself for it. To me, that is success."
Those strands now come together in Raising Artemis, Baker’s debut novel, which Roundfire Books will publish on December 8, 2026. Physician Artemis Nicche returns home after her carefully constructed life begins to unravel. Unexpected guidance comes from Lucy, a deceased cat who still has plenty to say. The novel explores healing, second chances and the bonds between people and animals—subjects that reflect Baker’s long-standing curiosity about meaning, compassion and connection.
Baker sees a link between that curiosity and her years at Mercy. The school’s spiritual dimension was woven through her experience, and its teachers encouraged her interests rather than asking her to choose just one.
"Mercy understood that all these parts belonged to the same person and gave me room to develop each of them," she said. "To me, that is what Mercy does so beautifully: it sees a young woman in full and gives her the space, encouragement and confidence to become who she is meant to be."
Her advice to today’s Mercy students follows naturally: try everything. Join a club, try out for a team, take an unfamiliar class and get to know people outside your usual circle. Pay attention to what excites you. And, she adds, put the phone down sometimes. Some of life’s most meaningful moments will be the ones no one photographs or posts.
On December 15, Baker will return to Mercy for a public celebration of Raising Artemis, among the friends and teachers who helped shape her creative life.
"Reconnecting with Mercy has reminded me that I am still, very much, a Mercy girl," she said. "No matter how much time passes or how far life carries you, there is still a place where part of you will always belong."
ABOUT RAISING ARTEMIS
Raising Artemis will be released December 8, 2026. Everyone is welcome to celebrate with Christine at the Mercy book launch on December 15. Learn more at www.RaisingArtemis.com and follow Christine on Instagram at @cb_writes15.