I was lucky to grow up in Ticonderoga, a paper mill town in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I loved the snow in the winter. We skated on the lakes, raced our sleds, and built igloos. My high school class had only 33 students, so every one of us felt special. Now, I live in Corvallis, Oregon, where I was a mom to two daughters and a Camp Fire leader for twelve years. My granddaughter's name is Sierra. My dog's name is Lucy. Sierra and I recently built a solar oven.

When I'm not writing or reading, I make jewelry with tiny beads, play my harp, or swim laps at the pool. I teach creative writing classes to grown-ups, something I love doing. I also lead workshops for kids in the schools and for adults at writers' conferences like the Willamette Writers Conference in Portland.

My books:

Tails of Spring Break, Albert Whitman, 2005. Grades 2-5.

Turkey Monster Thanksgiving, Albert Whitman, 2003.  Grades 2- 5.

Sister in the Shadow, Atheneum, 1986. Grades 4-8.

Blue Denim Blues, Atheneum, 1984. Grades 4-8.

You can order the top two books from any bookstore or from the internet. For the others, e-mail me .

Several of my essays for adults have won prizes. The most recently published one, "Reeds Shall Bend," appeared in Memoir(and). Someday, I hope to put those essays all together into a book called Dining With My Mother. Will these be about food? About my family? Yes, yes, yes!

I once wrote an essay about learning to play the Celtic harp and called it "Unstrung," because that's the way I feel when I play. Luckily for me and for anyone who's listening, a harp makes beautiful sounds even when I'm the one playing it. The harp in the picture is a lap harp, perfect for taking on trips to the beach.