I have been, at various times, a ballet dancer, a model, an art restoration apprentice, a cake cutter, a newspaper delivery girl, and a biologist.  Currently, I’m a freelance writer and live in Portland, Oregon, with my husband, two kids, and eight chickens. 

I grew up reading and re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings.  I even managed to convince my 8^th grade English teacher, Mrs. Wolf, that I had a two-track mind, which enabled me to read and listen at the same time.  I hung with an “artsy” crowd in high school and never considered being a scientist even though I loved camping, hiking, canoeing and being in the woods. 

In 1994, I found myself in Costa Rica snorkeling for tagged conches with a field biologist named Luis.  Waves slopped over my head as I treaded water, held a conch, and got a lecture in Spanish about mollusk reproduction.  That sealed the deal.  I wanted a job like that. 

Research science had its pleasures, but it also seriously cut into family time.  Now I express my love for the natural world in a different way.  Never one to take a straight path when there is a twisty one heading into the forest, I am somewhat surprised, but completely delighted, to be writing for children.