Author: I learned to read with Dick and Jane in 1962. Five years later I wrote my first book. I was eleven years old. I have been writing ever since. I wrote hundreds of manuscripts and collected rejection letters for years. And then it happened. On my fortieth birthday, the phone rang. After writing for twenty-nine years, I sold my first book! Today I've sold 106 book manuscripts: board books, picture books, easy readers, and chapter books (including a book for adults about how to write children's books). I've also written articles for textbooks and magazines.

Consultant: In 1995 I began working as a children's literature consultant for Sadlier-Oxford. Later I joined the Reading Advisory Board for the Rosen Publishing Group and became a "Classroom Connections" reviewer for Book Links. Today I also work as a consultant for the Brown Books Publishing Group.

Teacher: I started teaching elementary school in 1977. I taught kindergarten ESL, first, fifth and sixth grades. I was teaching my young students to write, so I wrote for them and they wrote for me. After my children's books were published I went back to the classroom as a visiting author. I co-taught children's literature at the University of North Texas. Today I teach writing at Southern Methodist University and online. I have written with students of all ages in classrooms and workshops all over the globe.