Just in case you have a book report, here are 10 things to know about me.
1. I was born in Oak Park, IL and lived just a mile or so from the childhood home of an author named Ernest Hemingway. I moved away from Oak Park when I was five.
2. I grew up in Portland, Oregon where I live now.
3. I have also lived in Spokane, WA, Taholah, WA, Ft Huachuca, AZ, Aschaffenburg, Germany, and Ft Hood, TX.
4. My favorite job, besides writing, was being a summer camp counselor.
5. I can play the violin, and I can juggle, and I am learning to tango, but I cannot throw a frisbee to save my life.
6. My grandfather lived with my family when I was growing up. He was born in Berlin and lived to be 96 years old.
7. I have a brother and a sister who are twins, four children who are not twins and more than thirty nieces and nephews (no twins there either).
8. It took me seven years to go from my first idea for Heart of a Shepherd to a finished book. But in those seven years I also wrote another novel, two mysteries, lots of short stories and many newspaper and magazine articles.
9. When I am not writing, I like to ride my bike, hike, ski, climb trees, dance, go to the beach, and read books.
10. Lots of really great children’s authors and illustrators live in Portland. My favorite thing about being a children’s writer is the friends I have made. These are some writers I know from Portland: Suz Blackaby, Carmen Bernier-Grand, Carolyn Digby Conahan, Virginia Euer Wolff, Susan Fletcher, Matt Holm, Graham Salisbury, Laini Taylor and Heather Vogel-Frederick. I hope you read and enjoy their books too.
