 From 1987 until 2005, Flake returned to the University of Pittsburgh public relations department where she eventually became a supervisor, then went on to become Director of Public Relations at the University's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.During this time her writing career still remained active.Flake participated in writing workshops at the Pinocchio bookstore, where she began working on "The Skin I'm In" in the mid-1990s.