About Me

Growing up as the youngest kiddo in a large and boisterous family, I became a stealth observer and entertainer. Because everyone seemed to talk at the same time, I raised my hand at the dinner table to get a word in or tell a knock-knock joke. I remember details from sibling musicals and from spying on their unfolding hair and homework dramas. Most of all, I remember being outside creating elaborate garden hose rivers in the backyard 12’ x 12’ sandbox, performing as Henrietta the Magician for family shows, playing flute and piano, and vacationing across the country with my stuffed animals. School and city libraries brought great joy, and I remember thinking “I can just take this stack of books home and then return them for a new stack?” Writing my own poems and stories was great entertainment to me growing up in a small midwestern town where I spent hours drawing, oil painting, and molding intricate clay animals.

Now I aim to create stories with humor and heart, capturing a beautiful world for young readers with picture books and chapter books. Because my first career meant using data to tell stories as a health care data analyst and computer programmer, some of my STEAM  stories focus on the wonder of math, computer programming, art, and music. My illustrations are created digitally, but over recent years, I’ve enjoyed focusing on making art using ink, watercolor, colored pencil, and gouache, but always love experimenting with collage, fluid acrylics, charcoal, crayons, and oil pastel. If it makes a mark, count me in!