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~ All About Me
I'm not one of those children's authors who will tell you she "grew up writing". Looking
back, I didn't even realize that I loved it. I grew up with my parents and younger sister in a
small East Texas town. We lived out in the country and I either was romping in the woods
or had my nose buried in a book. My favorites? Well, the Little House on the Prairie
series, Charlotte's Web and ANYTHING by Beverly Cleary or Judy Blume.
In fact, when I grew up and had kids of my own, the main thing my mother had saved from
my childhood to pass down to them were tons of books. (Reading was really important to
my parents.)
back, I didn't even realize that I loved it. I grew up with my parents and younger sister in a
small East Texas town. We lived out in the country and I either was romping in the woods
or had my nose buried in a book. My favorites? Well, the Little House on the Prairie
series, Charlotte's Web and ANYTHING by Beverly Cleary or Judy Blume.
In fact, when I grew up and had kids of my own, the main thing my mother had saved from
my childhood to pass down to them were tons of books. (Reading was really important to
my parents.)
In school, English was always my favorite subject. I liked it SO much that I studied it in
college. After high school, I went to the University of Texas - Austin (HOOK 'EM HORNS!)
and received a degree in English Literature. Now, what some of you might find interesting
is that I had a double minor - Greek Literature and MONKEYS! Actually, they call it
primatology (the study of primates). I was fascinated by primates and took as many
physical anthropology classes as I could. I sat in a room for hours each week, watching
monkeys and studying them.
My knowledge of monkeys would come in useful, but I didn't even use my English degree
when I graduated. I spent seven years working in finance (and I am terrible at math ... go
figure!). Believe me, when working in a major corporation, what I learned about monkey
behavior came in handy. During that time, I married my wonderful husband, Joey. At the
end of seven years, I got a new and more challenging job as a MOM! (Again, primatology
came in pretty handy-dandy.)
It was the best job ever but the pay stunk, so I started teaching preschool. Now I was
having fun! Teaching is still what I do today. I teach 4th grade all subjects and I love my
job!
I began writing for kids in 2003. Since then, I have three picture books published and
more than thirty non-fiction books. I love learning so I am especially crazy about
non-fiction. My books cover topics like animals, roller coasters, spies, and celebrities. So,
I suppose all that time I spent reading paid off!
Now, I live in north Houston, TX with my husband, two daughters, one big dog, a spoiled
rotten cat, a quite prickly hedgehog, and two fish. Click here for weird facts about me and
the answers to some frequently asked questions
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| One of my favorite things about being an author is working on the couch in my jammies! |
| Me signing the author wall at Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston :) |
| See? Told you we have a hedgehog! |