I grew up in Canton, Massachusetts with my parents, my younger brother and sister, and a dog or two at a time. I lived in a neighborhood filled with children. There was always someone to play with, and my childhood memories are filled with talent shows held in my friend’s garage, treasure hunts and fort-building in the woods behind my home, and time spent in a clubhouse under my friend’s back porch. In that clubhouse, secret plans were hatched, and arguments brewed over serious topics such as whose turn it was to play “teacher.” 


I loved to read, and would alternate between dreams of being on the prairie with Laura Ingalls Wilder and searching for clues with Nancy Drew.


I also loved to write. The first poem I remember putting to page was written at around age five, an ode to my favorite stuffed animal Big Brown Bear. My grandmother would copy down poems I wrote in a small notebook, making me feel very important. 


In sixth grade, I wrote a poem about Thanksgiving for an English assignment. The teacher thought I’d copied someone else’s work. And while I was insulted by the failing grade she gave me, I thought, for the first time, that if my teacher believed that poem was good enough to be plagiarized, maybe I had some talent.


I continued to write poems throughout high school, but most of my teen energy was spent in school plays and at my local dance studio, where I was part of a competitive dance team.


In college, I turned my attention to the social sciences, majoring in psychology and minoring in sociology. I loved working with children and set my sights on graduate school, where I went on to receive a Master’s Degree in Social Work. I worked for years as a child therapist. During that time, I moved to the seaside town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, married, and had two fabulous children. 


While my kids were in preschool, I returned to my love of writing. I entered a graduate program in writing and wrote, and wrote, and wrote! After writing and revising and sending stories out to publishers for a few years (and piling up a number of rejections) an editor called me on my son’s birthday and gave me a present... she wanted to publish one of my picture books! Oh, happy day! 


Since that time I’ve kept writing, both picture books and young adult novels. I love the balance I’ve found between creating longer works focusing on some tough issues tackled by teens, and wordplay and rhyme for younger readers. I feel truly blessed to be doing what I do, and being able to work in my pajamas is a definite perk to this amazing job.

about me

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