“What to do with all that snow? Make a snow angel of course!”

I like to write in rhyme. In fact, from the time I was a little girl I would often write poems and short stories in rhyme.

When I was in college I continued to write. But it wasn't until after my first daughter was born that I decided to write for children.

Since I started writing for children, I have won several awards for my children's stories including "first place" from Byline Magazine for "Ruthie Bon Bair: Do Not Go To Bed With Wringing Wet Hair".

The first children's story I ever sold, "Not-So-Ordinary Cows", was to Spider Magazine. It's a funny story about a group of very talented cows who want a chance to perform at the county fair. The farmer is embarrassed by his ambitious cows but there's no stopping them.

Soon after that, I received the great news from Abrams Publishing about my first picture book, Noises at Night which I co-wrote with my good friend Beth Raisner Glass. We were very excited to learn that Bruce Whatley was going to illustrate our book. Noises at Night is about a little boy who, after being tucked in and kissed goodnight, hears all sorts of noises floating around his room. He has a really good imagination because he changes all of the noises he hears into very exciting adventures! The little boy becomes the captain of his own ship, a snake charmer, a baseball player and other things...all in one night!

"Ruthie Bon Bair: Do Not Go To Bed With Wringing Wet Hair!" is also a rhyming story and is illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Ruthie Bon Bair doesn’t like to dry her hair after her bath and she goes to bed with a wet head. One morning Ruthie wakes up and has all sorts of plants growing out of her scalp. Just when you think Ruthie solves her problem there’s a little surprise in store for everyone.

I spend almost as much time thinking about ideas for stories as I do writing them. I keep notebooks all over the house so I can jot down my thoughts whenever something pops into my head. A lot of people ask me “what inspires you?” and I tell them that there are many things that inspire me. My daughters were the inspiration for “Ruthie Bon Bair”. Sometimes ordinary everyday things spark a story idea. For example, getting the hiccups, or watching the snow come down. A lot of times I have an idea and the story starts out one way but ends up very differently. That brings me to the topic of what I consider to be the most important part of my writing process. The most important part of my writing is the re-writing (that's also called revision by the way). Once I get a first version or first draft down on paper, I spend a lot of time reworking the story by moving things around, adding things to, or taking things out of the story. Sometimes I can finish a story in a few weeks, while other stories have taken years. After I finish a story, I usually put it in a drawer and leave it there for a week or so. I call this my "pickling" process. After it's been "pickled", I reread it. I usually can tell at this point if the story needs more work, or if it's ready to be mailed off to an editor with the hopes of getting published.

Going to work every day is very easy for me. I just go downstairs to my office and I am there. No traffic jams! Most days I even wear my slippers to work.

In addition to my children, my husband, my two cats, my dog, and a great cup of coffee, writing for children is one of my most favorite things. When not taking care of my family, or cleaning out the litter box, I can be found typing away at my computer with a big mug of coffee close by.