.png)
About Me
.jpg)
Most authors start their journey at a much younger age than I was when I took the plunge into creative writing. It started when I was closing my mother's apartment after she died, and I found three pennies in a neat stack on a windowsill in an otherwise completely empty apartment.
My mother was always on the lookout for a dropped penny. Everyone thought she
shouldn't care about a lowly penny. She walked with her eyes down scanning the
sidewalks for stranded coins, because it had value and someone might need it.
I was sure those pennies left for me were a magical message, and I wanted to write
their story in a picture book. The book was in my head, but I didn't know how to get it on paper, so
I dove into writing classes, workshops, and SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) conferences to learn the craft.
I never wrote that picture book but I found the magic of those pennies writing middle grade and young adult fiction. Along the way, I learned how much I love writing. Once I started, I've never stopped.
When I'm not writing, you might find me reading, exercising, or doing therapeutic ironing (yes, there is such a thing).
If you want to know more about me
-
I'm an ocean person. I love the way it smells, and the ice cream tastes so much better in the salt water air. My favorite ocean place is Cape Cod.
-
In the summer after my junior year in high school, I visited twelve European cities in seven weeks!
-
Once I got heckled moderating a candidates’ debate and the police had to remove the person from the auditorium. Scary.
-
I attended an event in the Rose Garden of the White House when Bill Clinton was president.
-
I started kindergarten at four and graduated high school a couple of months after my 17th birthday⏤an early bloomer.
-
I wrote poetry in college about relationships and the Vietnam War. Perhaps that’s the true start of my creative writing career.
-
I’m scared of bees and yet once I volunteered to help take down a bee’s nest at summer camp.
-
I’m not an adventurous eater just like twelve-year-old Rocky in Swallowed by a Secret.
-
I love to read historical nonfiction that is written like a novel. My favorite author of this genre is Erik Larson.
-
I hate writing all these “I” sentences in this list. That really isn’t me. I’m an introvert and don't like to talk about myself.
-
Doing author interviews on podcasts gives me anxiety, but so far every one of the interviewers has been so kind and put me totally at ease.
-
I may add more to this list so check back soon to learn more embarrassing or interesting facts about me.