Most of my childhood was spent living in a hundred-year-old farmhouse set on two acres in Holly, Michigan. I spent my time climbing trees, selling zucchini at the edge of our yard, acting in plays, laughing with my several siblings, playing with friends, and reading.

From fourth through sixth grade, I lived in Sao Paolo, Brazil. During those three years, I got to meet more amazing people, try lots of new food, and play make-believe in the bamboo forests near our high rise apartment.

Moving back to Michigan in seventh grade sure was an experience! Friend groups had changed. I didn't know what was cool back in Michigan or quite how to fit in. I even tried out for my middle school's basketball team and was one of two girls who didn't make it – my weeks-long dream of becoming an athlete was shattered. So I went back to my staples of theater, friends, dance and, of course, books.

In high school I worked at a haunted restaurant (and had several other interesting jobs), acted in plays, and generally had a blast. I graduated high school a semester early and in January of 2003, I flew off to Brigham Young University in Utah by myself. It was an amazing and hard and wonderful experience—growing up.

Later, I served a mission for my church in Hawaii, and then married my husband in December of 2006. After graduating, I taught elementary as a special education teacher for a couple years before my oldest daughter was born.

Three weeks after my daughter was born, we flew to Japan for my husband's summer internship. I fell in love with Japan and could even speak enough Japanese to grocery shop on my own. But being a new mom in a foreign country was also lonely. I started reading again and zipped through all of L. M. Montgomery's books and so many others.

After my husband graduated, we settled in California where our second daughter was born. As a stay-at-home mom, I became an avid picture book reader.

Up until that point, the only "real" writing I'd done was some pretty angsty poetry in high school (yes, I know where that spiral notebook is, and no, you may not see it). Oh, and for a couple years in elementary, I narrated my whole life in my head…if you count that.

One day when I was driving with my two little girls to see a friend, my sister called to ask me about picture book ideas since she had to write one for a college class. The ideas started flowing! After we hung up, I called back almost immediately to tell her NOT to write that really good one, because I was going to write it and get it published, like ASAP. I pulled over on the side of the road and wrote the story down on a napkin. A fire had been lit!

ASAP turned into about fifteen years. In those years I had two more daughters, and I kept writing. Eventually I went to VCFA and in January of 2023 I earned a masters in writing for children and young adults. A few years later, I sold my first novel, Wish on a Willow, to Shadow Mountain Publishing. Over all the years that I was writing, I received over 300 rejections from agents and editors on various projects…but I kept going. Because once that writing fire was lit, it refused to go out.

For me, telling stories is a way to build bridges. We live in a divisive world where sometimes we forget to look at the humanity of the person on "the other side." Living in so many places and meeting so many wonderful people has taught me that there really isn't another side. We're all humans hoping for a beautiful life, struggling, trying to figure it all out. We have a lot more in common than we realize. Of course we won't agree with everyone on everything…how boring would that be! But we can come to understand others if we choose to. And if we do, we may even come to love them, differences and all. I hope my stories can build a few bridges, open a few doors, and bring a little more light into the world.