Author of picture book
Not Norman: A Goldfish Story (and a big fan of fish).,About Me My journey to become a children's book author began behind the wheel of a 1979 Cadillac Coupe de Ville with a sagging ceiling liner and an enormous band-aide glued over a dent on the rear driver's side. That car was big, green and ugly. My 4-year-old son, Max, sat on his kiddie booster in the backseat; my 2-year-old daughter, Alexis, rode beside me in the front. We drove that Caddie from Oklahoma to California and back again with no radio and no air conditioning-all we had were songs, stories, and each other. On that long, dusty trip I learned I could make up one whopper of a story. I also decided that I wanted to keep making up stories, and I wanted those stories to become books. Eventually I graduated from Vermont College's M.F.A. program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. About My Work In the more than 20 years since that fateful car ride, my stories have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and more than 12 books for children-both non-fiction and fiction. My children, Max and Lexi, still enjoy hearing my stories. I'm a list maker--always have been. As soon as I learned to write, I started making lists: Birthday Lists; Christmas Lists; To Do Lists; Things to do on Vacation; Stuff to Remember to Tell My Best Friend; Why I Hate fill in the blank; All The Reasons I Love fill in the blank. Right now I have a list of titles called Books I'm Going to Write One Day. Many of my stories start as lists. NOT NORMAN, A GOLDFISH STORY began as a list of all the things a good pet should be. That turned into a list of reasons why a goldfish is a good pet. DAD AND POP, my forthcoming picture book, about a girl who has two fathers, is what many call a "list story." "If I am writing a story and get stuck, or can't figure out what happens next, I get busy making lists. And so it seems fitting to end with a list. Here are 10 TRUTHS AND A LIE: THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME: 1. My favorite snack is chocolate in one hand, potato chips in the other. 2. I grew up in California, near the beach. 3. I have visited all 50 of the United States, 15 Countries, and 4 Continents-so far! 4. I wear a retainer to bed every night. 5. I have ridden elephants, camels, and a dolphin. 6. I have eaten ants, crickets, snakes, alligator, frogs, and sago palm larvae. 7. Norman the goldfish is named after my cat. 8. Kelly is not really my name. 9. I live part time in Texas and the rest of the time in Jakarta, Indonesia with my husband, Curtis. 10. I once raced a SCCA Sports Renault. 11. I never travel anywhere without my pillow. Can you guess which one is the lie?