The story of my life . . .

 
A long time ago, back in the last century, I grew up in Wisconsin in a house next to a magical woods. I was always making up stories, and yet it never occurred to me to become a writer like my grandmother. I studied theater at Northwestern University because I enjoyed being dramatic. After college, I had lots of different jobs. I was in a theater troupe. I sewed costumes. I delivered balloons. I proofread boring legal documents. And I started writing. On a typewriter! I had no success at first. But I kept writing. Luckily I enjoyed every part of the process. Planning the story, living in each character, solving the puzzle of rewriting--and the joy of discovering something new. I still love all these aspects, especially the opportunity to learn. When my daughter was nine, I began writing what would become my first published novel. Nature Girl is the story of a city girl who finds herself when she gets lost in the woods. Since then I’ve written about many different kinds of characters, including an African gray parrot. But all my novels share a common theme--the importance of persistence and the power of imagination.

  photo by Keith Weber

My cat Blackberry is not as helpful as she thinks!