Meet the Writer

I have always been a writer, but of course I didn't always make my living as a writer. Before settling down to this career once and for all, I worked as an administrative assistant, an executive secretary, an early-childhood educator, a research assistant, an editorial assistant, a freelance proofreader and copy editor, and a library "information specialist."

I began writing stories around the age of five, but didn't consciously intend to become a writer--for a great many years my ambition was to be an archaeologist. Then I switched to music, and for some time I wanted to become a concert cellist or composer and conductor. For a short while I also entertained notions of being an actor-singer-dancer. I explored most of these ideas during college at Barnard, in New York City, where I also became more serious about writing fiction and poetry. I ended up with an interdisciplinary arts major with a double concentration in music and writing. My other major subjects were Latin, literature, and religion.

After a little break (during which my interests again expanded), I went on to graduate school at City University of New York, pursuing a PhD in comparative literature with a concentration in Medieval Studies. I did work in Old Norse and Old Irish as well as quite a bit on courtly lyric and romance (in Old Occitan, Middle French, and Middle English). About halfway through the program, I had to leave school due to health problems. During my recovery time I realized that I did not want to be a college professor badly enough to go back and complete my doctorate. Instead, I went to work in the publishing industry. After some years of working both in-house and freelance, I was offered the opportunity to start writing children's nonfiction. I have been doing so ever since, and have begun to explore writing in other genres as well.

In 1991 I moved from New York City to Atlanta, and in 1995 settled down in the North Georgia mountains with my husband, our son, and an assortment of cats and dogs. My main forms of relaxation these days are reading, knitting, and gardening. I also play the Celtic harp a little, and I am a teacher and performer of Middle Eastern dance (aka belly dance).

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