As a recently retired teacher, I'm very excited to begin a new adventure as a children's book author. Even as a child, I always loved writing. However, I  didn't "become a writer" until I participated in the Louisville Writing Project's Summer Institute. Those four weeks impacted my teaching more than any other professional development.  I learned about myself as a writer, I learned to share ideas with fellow teachers, and I learned how to write along with my students. When I asked my students to write a certain genre, I tried it out alongside them. I shared my ideas, my thinking, my struggles, and let them give me feedback. Thus, I modeled a writing process of brainstorming, drafting, sharing, revising, editing and publishing. Overall, I learned to become a better writing teacher by writing with my students. 

My 25 years as an educator included middle school science and language arts teacher, middle school literacy coach, literacy consultant at the Kentucky Department of Education, and middle school reading interventionist. 

Because I am a teacher at heart, I want to do more than simply write children's books. I want to incorporate ideas that parents and teachers can use to strengthen children's reading and writing ability. My experience as a writing teacher and a reading interventionist helps me do just that. I am a firm believer that picture books are a perfect venue for improving reading and writing for students of all ages. 

I live in smalltown Bagdad, Kentucky, with my husband, Ken, and our two dogs, Duke and Winnie. Our son, Kenny, works in the world of tech and lives too far away to suit me in California. 

When I'm not writing, I can be found gardening, reading, hiking with friends, walking with Duke and Winnie, being at my church, hanging out with my family and friends, cleaning old cemetery headstones, and learning new hobbies. There is just so much God has given me to enjoy!