About Me
The picture of me above is my class photo from when I was in kindergarten. My claim to fame that year was doing the art for our THREE BILLIES GOATS GRUFF program. In some ways its true what they say about learning everything you need to know in kindergarten--drawing and painting (with fingers, of course), cutting and pasting. I still use many of those abilities daily.
It was only two years later that in second grade when I began writing and illustrating my first books. The truth is it was my teacher's only way of keeping me quiet when I finished my work early. (Even back then I was a talker.) Of course, titles came out in single editions and usually ended up in a box my mother kept under her bed. Shortly after my father brought home our first PC, I toyed with the idea of writing a compendium on dragons. Alas, I was distracted by other interests. It wasn't until years later after I had graduated from UCLA and completed a year of post-graduate studies at the Exeter College of Art and Design in Devon, England that I took up commercial illustration. Eventually that led me to my first paying picture book assignment. I now have over sixty fiction and non-fiction books to my credit. My career in the field of children's books continues to challenge me while providing me with the opportunity to meet some amazing people, act child-like, and travel to interesting places all in the name of research. Over the past twenty plus years, I have frequently critiqued both manuscripts and portfolios for workshops and conferences and have taught writing and illustrating children books at Learning Tree University. I am a founding member of the Children's Author's Network! (CAN!); a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI); a contributing editor for Kite Tales, our regional SCBWI publication; and the Illustrator Coordinator for the SCBWI Central-Coastal California Region. I conduct school and library presentations and teacher in-service workshops, and have taught how to write and illustrate children's books. In addition to writing and illustrating, I maintain a decorative painting business which specializes in murals. So, see, sometimes it is okay to draw on the walls, and you might even get paid for it! For relaxation, I can be found plein air painting, hiking, playing hammered dulcimer, or out in the garden submitting to the whims of nature. I am a rehabilitated soccer mom, a damage control specialist (thanks to three sons), and have completed two tours of duty in scouts. I come from a family of total foodies, like to eat more than cook, but do plenty of both. |
