About Me

I grew up as the middle child in my family. All the neighbors knew my name. My mother called me by my full name whenever I was in trouble, which was nearly every day. To my sisters, I was more of a troublemaker than a peacemaker when we were young. 

If you are a middle child, I can empathize. 

I have only three baby pictures, while my siblings each have at least a hundred. I asked my mother why there were so few pictures of me, and she responded, “Well, you were a homely baby. You had no hair until you were two, and people thought you were a boy.” 

Despite that, my mother saved two of my handwritten books, bound with safety pins and brads. The Hungry Bird was my first, followed by The Bubble Gum Mouse. 

While I showed early promise, it was many years before I started writing seriously. When I joined the Navy, I needed my math skills more. Still, I always kept my ears open for good sea stories. Sailors tell excellent stories.

Then came Naval Postgraduate School, marriage, kids, and moving—lots of moving. I went into education, where I taught at the community college level before moving on to middle school. 

Eventually, I earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University. I have had wonderful experiences via the Highlights Foundation and the Writing Barn’s Courage to Create and Verge programs.

Once a year, I return to the same rocky shoreline in Maine that I explored as a child.