As a child I was constantly drawing. On math sheets in the classroom, on napkins at the dinner table, and on church bulletins in the pew. Art class was my absolute favorite thing because I discovered so many ways to create. It was the place I felt most special. As I grew, my love for art grew, and I dreamed of becoming an animator. When I chose my college major, I went with practical, instead of possible, and wound up in nursing school. But one semester from graduating as a RN I gave it up, and retreated to my life of serving tables, doodling, and dreaming. After my husband and I had our daughter, I started entertaining the idea of creating children’s books. For many years I brain stormed and sketched in my free time. It wasn’t until our second child was born, that my creativity, met by daily inspiration sparked an investigation into hiring an editor and pursuing the idea that I could write and illustrate books.

I live in Central Pennsylvania, with my husband and two bickering children. Michael works in the hospital taking X-rays and Cat scans and has completely supported me through this book journey. Alaina, my daughter, and Everett, my son, whom we lovingly nicknamed Monster for the first 3 years of his life, are the inspirations for my books. We have a completely black German Shepherd named Snowflake (thanks to my creative children), who wears “doggles” (dog goggles) to prevent her from going blind. But most of the time people just think she’s fashionable. Snowflake spends her days terrorizing the children and our 4 cats: Blitzy, Pumpkin, Sugar and Lyle.

When I’m not illustrating, I’m serving tables at the cutest little cafe BYOB you could ever imagine. I love Garfield and Friends and own every single Calvin and Hobbes book. I always wanted to meet Bill Watterson. I spend my days under trees, or in creeks, and my nights watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond or King of Queens. Most mornings I sip my (preferred) instant coffee while reading my Bible before the kids wake up and turn on the TV. I am so incredibly blessed and am excited to finally share my God given talents with the world.