I was born in West Texas. Those are cowboy boots I'm wearing in the photo. Then I spent a good chunk of childhood in Arkansas. But I've lived all over the US--Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, New Hampshire, New York, California, Massachusetts--and in France, the Czech Republic and in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf. You could say all over the map.

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Author Sarah Sullivan has a theory that many children's writers moved around a lot as kids.

 

 

 My grandfather read a lot to my brother and me. His favorite was Dr. Seuss.

 

Jan%2005%20chapVC%20014.jpgI earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts in January of 2007, and was awarded the Jane Resh Thomas Critical Writing Scholarship. 

I read submissions for the VCFA literary magazine, HUNGER MOUNTAIN, and also for the annual Katherine Patterson Prize for YA and Children's Writing. 

 

This photo was taken when it was -15 F.

 

 

 

 

DSC_0198.jpgI'm a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators  and a former Regional Advisor for SCBWI France. 

This is Royaumont, a 13th century abbey north of Paris where SCBWI France (and I) organized Sequester, a writing retreat.

 

 

 

Represented by Adams Literary  (see links page).

Graduated with honors from Dartmouth College in 1981

Some jobs I've held:

(Paid)  babysitter, dishwasher, waitress, lunch cook, caterer help, retail clothing sales, production assistant, adverting junior account executive, small business CEO 

(Unpaid) work in schools, churches, theaters, elderly home, hospital, orphanage, suicide hot line, soup kitchens

I live in San Francisco with my family.