I grew up in a rural area without close neighbors. Early on, I found companionship in books. I listened over and over again to stories on a Mickey Mouse player. I drank in fairy tale world possibility, loved the smidge of fear and suspense of a good ghost story, and devoured stories of nature, especially exotic animals and places. As I got older, books served as my window to the wider world and my escape from small-town monotony.

In my adult professional life, I’ve worked in communications and business writing. The dream of completing a work of fiction, like those that inspired my younger self, has always needled me, tugged at my sleeve, whispered in my ear at the end of a long, frustrating day of giving my time to people who didn’t always appreciate it.

Determined to transform a dream into reality, I’ve completed a middle-grade grounded fantasy, Shadows, Secrets, and the Spark Squires, based on my life in the USVI (currently querying), and a picture book manuscript based on the true story of a family heirloom. Years of watching youth sports as a parent spectator morphed into an in-progress upper middle-grade coming of age lacrosse story, and I’m working on two draft PBs (one bittersweet, one funny) inspired by my family.

I’ve moved several times in my life and welcome change as a new adventure. I currently live in Appalachia with my middle school-aged son, husband, and our terrier, my at-home editor and sounding board.