I
was born and raised in San Francisco, California by an Irish father who
taught me the joy of reading and storytelling and an Italian mother who
passed on her love for music and cooking. As a young girl, I lived on a
crowded city block in a house sandwiched in-between other houses. Now my
city-girl days are long gone and I live on an almond ranch in the San
Joaquin Valley.
I met my husband, Bill, while attending California State
University, San Francisco in the 1960s. When we had been married for
three years, Bill and I decided to leave the city and make a new life in
his hometown in the San Joaquin Valley. After many moves and becoming
parents of four children (one daughter and three sons), we settled down
on a cattle ranch in a small farming community. When my last child
started school in the 1980s, I returned to school and graduated from
Modesto Junior College and became a registered dental assistant
.
Then in the late 1990s we sold our cattle and turned our clover ranch
into an almond orchard.
Though I loved to read and write as a child, I really wanted to be an
opera singer. However when I found out, to my great horror, that I
couldn’t sing a lick, I went on to other pursuits. Then several years
ago I decided to write professionally in addition to holding down my day
job and cooking up
memorable meals for my growing family of adult children, in-laws, and
grandchildren. After many years of trying to decide what I wanted to be
when I "grew up", I discovered that no other occupation gave me as much
joy as writing and that I plan to do it for the rest of my life.
I started my writing career by doing articles, essays, and short stories
for newspapers, magazines, and newsletters. Then in 1998, my first
non-fiction book for children came out with
Millbrook Press. I now have five published non-fiction books for
children. I also write fiction for
children, including picture books, middle-grade and young adult novels.
I will update as soon as they mature into published works.
My husband Bill and our dog
Maddy
With my children: Tina, Josh,
Myself, Andy and Jim
