I write and illustrate out of my home studio in Norfolk, Virginia where I live with my husband, two neurotic cats and a very cute 4 year-old dictator. I enjoy living on the east coast after growing up in the cornfields of the Midwest where I received my BFA in painting and a degree in Art Education from the University of Iowa.
My obsession with reading, writing and illustrating started in elementary school. (And I have the incredibly embarrassing manuscripts and drawings circa 1995 to prove it!) Most of my work was pretty derivative of the Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley High series and thankfully my work has leveled up.
I write and illustrate kidlit. Right now I’m focused on middle grade and young adult fiction, usually with a spooky slant. My current work in progress is a MG dark contemporary fantasy set in the Great Dismal Swamp.
I love the quote below and thinks it’s true of all things involving creativity and imagination. It’s part of why I love kidlit so much.
“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.”
Pablo Picasso
