About Me

Too Long Bio

As a child, I wanted to be a teacher, a writer or an astronaut and have had the very good fortune to have become two of them thus far, it remains to be seen as to whether or not I’ll ever be an astronaut. I guess anything is possible.

I grew up with an older sister, a brother and the kind of awesome mom who other kids wished they had—a pie baking, piano playing, lawn cutting, tree chopping down by yourself kind of single mom that you can’t help but want to be like some day. I also grew up with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and Epilepsy.

My doctor called me a puzzle and I’ve frequently felt like one. My young life was split between being a regular book consuming, mud pie building, potato bug catching kid and doctor appointments, tests, casts and splints. I often felt very alone in my journey; surely nobody else could possibly be like me! Nobody else could possibly understand. That’s what I thought anyway. I realized at a very young age that reading and writing helped and was soon hooked on both.

I managed to survive my crazy childhood and became a preschool teacher, actually being paid to read to children, sing, draw, have snacks and nap—whaaaa?!  Next, I went to work at a very busy medical office in Ventura, CA and work there still.

As I stumbled my way into adulthood, I knew that I wanted to write something that might help kids feel a little less alone in this big, wide world, especially if they had to deal with something that made it seem that they were and so I created Freddie, the flamingo who was just a little bit different from the rest of the flock.

I love to travel, have been to Brazil as well as two whirlwind tours through western Europe. There’s an amazing world out there and I want to be able to see more of it!

Shorter Bio

I finally became the children’s book author I always wanted to be when Stand Right Freddie came to life. My next book will be about a brave but lonely dinosaur named Spencer who just misses his family so much. I look forward to seeing him develop much as Freddie did. I currently live in Santa Paula, CA and can’t wait to see more of this country of ours.

Totally Fake Bio

I am a much in demand vacation spot reviewer, so I get paid to travel to amazing places and write what I think. I get to travel to places like Belize, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Hawaii, and Bali—pretty good gig. I manage to find the time to also be a much beloved children’s book author. I currently have a home on the east coast and a home on the beach in Santa Barbara, California, and so enjoy the best of both worlds.