I love to cook and to create new recipes. I love to write and to teach. I am in fresh strawberry heaven because I get to do everything! In schools, in summer camps and in my neighborhood, I've been fortunate to share my joy with children from preschool through high school. My food articles have been published in children's magazines such as Boys' Life, Faces, The Friend and Totally Fox Kids.
I was born in Great Bend, Kansas, but have lived in nine states and one foreign country for a total of twenty-seven different moves. Because I moved so much, books were my first and fastest friends. I couldn't stop reading. In fact, I followed my mother around the house reading out loud to her since my teachers didn't believe I read so much. My mother had to hide my books so I would go outside to play.
In second grade I named my orange marmalade colored cat Mr. Kelly because I thought the mama cat in the book, Mrs. Kelly and Her Kittens, should have a husband.
By fourth grade I wanted to be brave and resourceful because I just knew someday I'd be stranded on a desert island like Mary in Baby Island. My list grew in junior high with the addition of curiosity and sophistication just like Nancy Drew.
From reading to writing was a short journey. Through my writing I can be everyone and everything I ever wanted to be. Besides, to be a writer, one has to read, read, read. Now I get to read and write all I want. Every day you will find me with a book in hand or tap-tap-typing on the computer into the wee hours of the morning. I write a lot because I have so many ideas. I began by writing recipes and a cookbook manuscript. By then I was bitten by the writing bug. So far I've written poetry, picture books and magazine articles. Now I'm growing up so I'm writing middle grade novels, too.
Click on Recipes at the top of this page to get a taste of what I do. Or click on My Works to learn more about my magazine articles.
I also work as a dietitian in a hospital. Do you know what? I love doing that, too, because I get to help so many people.
