Someone once told me that I'm a kid at heart. I agree, but why aren't my other body parts aware of it? (but that's another story) I hope if I can see life through a child's eyes, then I can connect to them through my writing. So, I guess I'm capitalizing on my immaturity, but why not?

As a child, I adored books. I remember one of my friends had the whole Golden Books collection, and every time I came over, to his dismay, all I wanted to do was look at them. I loved books with beautiful illustrations and would look through my favorites over and over.

I've always been a creative person and loved art and design, so I got a BFA and worked as a Interior Designer. In time I had three children and stayed home to care for them, until my youngest went to kindergarten. I read them the classics like Dr. Seuss and Mercer Mayer, renewing my love for children's book but never let myself think I could write one.

Later, I worked as a Teacher's Assistant in an elementary school. I enjoyed working with the kids. To them everything was black or white; you always knew how they felt. They would make me laugh all the time. This is when the idea really came to me about writing and illustrating for children. I had the opportunity to paint murals at two schools, and received rave reviews. I never thought I would make such an impact, and that's when I realized never to assume I can't do something. I was planning on illustrating picture books, but an idea for a young adult novel came to me and I couldn't let it go. I knew I could write it, IF I put my mind to it. (I tend to have a short attention span).

Well, here I am some years later, still working on the same story. It is a historical/fantasy about a girl having realistic dreams involving characters living during the Civil War. It's complex, because it has two different storylines, and two protagonists with two different voices. Why didn't I start out with something easy? I said I was creative, not smart. Considering I'm still at it after all of this time means it's something to believe in, so I will keep plugging away. I can't wait to see it all come together at the end! I do have other intriguing ideas for more stories, but they'll have to wait until my current characters have had their say.