About me

I NEVER DREAMED OF BEING A WRITER

In fact, in high school, I was an atrocious speller and avoided taking courses that required a lot of writing. The longest piece I wrote, five pages in French, came back covered in red marks. Fortunately, a college professor got me over the fear of writing. That was a longtime ago.   I did not start writing seriously until I was in my mid-thirties. My oldest son, then in first grade, refused to learn how to read. We tried every trick in the book, but he preferred listening to us read chapter books. He liked big kid stories, and said that easy-readers were “boring.” So I wrote him an easy-reader adventure story about a boy and a wolf. Though he did not want to read it on his own, he enjoyed it. I decided to send it to a publisher. The editor liked it, but in the end did not accept it. I knew that I had a lot to learn about writing, so I took writing courses at the university. It was then I discovered my passion.   I sent one of my class essays to a newspaper, and not only did they accept it, they paid me and asked for more. Finally I knew what I want to be when I grew up! A writer!
I spent the next five years writing essays for the Home & Family section of the SUNDAY MONITOR (Concord, NH). My everyday experiences as mother, substitute teacher and animal lover, gave me the inspirations for my writings.   At that time, I also worked as an elementary school librarian. My favorite part of the job was reading to the younger children and talking with them about the stories. Also, I often found myself reading the picture books instead of shelving them.
Finally, I realized that it was time for me to dive in with both feet and write a children’s book. See the link, The story behind Book!, to learn more.

Now I live in rural New Hampshire with my husband, four children, and an ever-changing menagerie of animals. Presently, we have three horses, two dogs, two cats and 15 chickens, which run free when the snow is not too deep. In the past, snapping turtles, rabbits, a dove and a few other horses, including a Norwegian fjord horse, also kept us busy and entertained.