I have always loved the smell and feel of books. Even during preschool visits to the library with my parents, I remember opening picture books and sniffing them, then delighting in the crinkle of their covers in my fingers. In third grade, I discovered that I loved words, too, when I wrote my first story called Tommy the Tooth. All through elementary, middle, and high school, I devoured books of all kinds and took as many English and writing classes as my schedule would permit.

              When I wasn't reading in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I spent my time swimming, horseback riding, playing the flute, and attending church youth group. I even went on a mission trip to Mexico and helped build a playground out of abandoned car and truck tires!

              I attended Westminster College and earned a bachelor's degree in English plus met my husband, Erik, while we both worked as counselors at a summer camp. After we married, I entered Regent University and earned a master's degree in journalism. It was during graduate school that I first took a children's writing class and fell in love with the genre, although it would be a few years until I could devote myself entirely to that type of writing.

              Upon graduation, I wrote for many newspapers, magazines, and business publications including Country Living, Southern Living, Historic Traveler, and Victoria. A collection of courtship letters between my great-grandparents that I compiled, if nothing happens ... The Courtship Letters of Norman Wilson Ingerson and Stella May Murdock 1892-1896, was published by Chautauqua Region Press in 2001.

              After my children Will, Lizzy, and Sophie were born, I started writing only for children, first for religious and educational publishers; then for magazines like Highlights for Children, Ladybug, and Spider; and finally for my first picture book, Josias, Hold the Book.

              When I'm not writing at home in Albemarle County, Virginia, I'm still reading, swimming, playing my flute, riding my palomino Quarter horse, Goodnight Moon, playing with my Border collie, Chaucer, and spending time with my family.

 

Childhood Favorites

Bedtime for Frances and everything else by Russell Hoban

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

The Great Brain and everything else by John D. Fitzgerald

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Little House on the Prairie and everything else by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Misty of Chincoteague and everything else by Marguerite Henry

The Story of Babar and everything else by Jean De Brunhoff

The Story of Helen Keller by Lorena A. Hickok

The Thanksgiving Treasure by Gail Rock

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

A Very Young Rider by Jill Krementz

 

Recent Favorites

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and everything else by J.K. Rowling

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

Number the Stars and everything else by Lois Lowry

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

| Home | Books | School Visits | Links | Contact |