A fourth generation Californian, I was born into a family of educators and musicians, so I guess you could say I was destined to be creative from Day One. I mean, what else could I do with perfect pitch? When I climbed up onto the piano bench at age 3 and plunked out “Happy Birthday” with my thumb, the die was cast. Music filled my life from then on, but then so did books. My summers were spent either reading or playing my flute and piano. I became a teacher after my mother and grandmother before me, but writing books didn’t really interest me until I retired from teaching in 2005. Let’s just say, when you look up “late bloomer” in the dictionary, you’ll see my picture. I guess you could say that I reinvented myself after retirement. I had written several school musicals that aligned with the curriculum, as well as seven collaborations for a community children's theatre, for which I received four AriZoni Awards for Original Music Composition. Writing seemed to come naturally to me, so I set out to write a series of picture books with an original song for each. One publisher suggested I write chapter books and middle grade. I took that advice and finally found my writing voice. So now I try to take my variety of interests and put them into my books. My first chapter book, Mortimer and Me, is based on the bedtime stories my dad used to tell me when I was a child. My books are about the things I love most - family, music, traveling to exotic places, and just the joy of being a kid!