Here I am at two years old. I have my teddy bear and I 'm ready to explore the world. Where was I going? Have I gotten there yet? Does this picture say anything about who I am today?

Yes! I am still holding onto the rail, hugging what’s dear to me, and trying to move forward. Over the years, I have re-examined my plans and changed short-term goals many times. But one dream has remained constant. I have always wanted to be a writer. In third grade, my teacher gave everyone a strip of construction paper and asked us to write down what we wanted to be when we grew up. In my newly acquired cursive, I wrote "writer." This is my earliest, most distinct memory of elementary school.

Another strong memory of my elementary school years involves jigsaw puzzles. I spent hours doing them. I started by carefully sorting the end pieces to make a frame. Then I matched pieces with similar colors, turning them around and around until they fit together to make an image. After days of work, I loved seeing all those interlocking pieces finally joined in a fabulous picture. It made me want to run out to the store and buy a new puzzle--an even bigger one with more pieces. I have no idea how many hours of my childhood were spent playing with jigsaw puzzles, but I know it was a lot.
 
Now I spend every available free moment playing with words. Writing is a lot like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. You have to make a frame for your story. You have to place similar words together to create images. And you have to arrange and re-arrange the pieces until everything fits together right.

My mind is always swirling with ideas. Like fireflies on a soft, summer night, they dance in the darkness and dare me to chase them. When I write, I discover who I am and what’s important to me. But most of all, writing gives me the opportunity to make new friends with characters I have imagined. It all begins with the puzzle of words--arranged, re-arranged, taken apart, and put back together in just the right interlocking order.

I became a writer because I love to play with words. Words give us the means to communicate with others. We speak them, we write them, and we read them. My love of words began with my love of reading. As a child, I sat for hours--sometimes in the crook of an apple tree, sometimes in an easy chair--lost in absorbing mysteries, fantasies, biographies, and realistic or historical fiction. I didn’t have much preference, and still don’t, for a particular genre. I am just an enthusiastic fan of a good story with compelling characters.

In addition to being an author and a poet, I’m also a teacher and a librarian. Thanks for visiting my website to learn more about me. I’d love to hear from you. Please visit my Contact page to write to me.