I was born in Providence, RI, in the days when library fines were a penny. One of my earliest memories was my weekly trip to the local library with my father. I’ve loved books ever since.
My childhood was fairly average. In fact, it was so average, all my friends had pretty much the same childhood. We all went to the same school, and attended the same church on Sundays. Our mothers all called us home to supper at the same time. On weekends we visited grandmothers and aunties who spoke a different language when they didn’t want us to understand.
To live any differently seemed exciting and exotic to me. I began to read biographies, just to get a peek at how other people lived day to day, in different times and places. When I was 10 or 11, I spent a whole year reading nothing but biographies.
I was never interested in sports much, with one exception—the Olympics. Everything about the Olympics appealed to me—the competition, the glory, the pageantry, the honor. So I guess it was no accident that, years later, when I became a children’s writer, my first two books were biographies of Olympic athletes. I was doing my research even then.
I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and a master’s from Penn State University, both in Communication Science. I didn’t start writing, however, until I had my two sons, John and Michael. Having children just unlocked my creative spirit, I guess. That’s why I dedicated my first book to them.
I live in rural Connecticut with my husband, Skip, our sons, and assorted cows and goats.
Hello from High Meadow Farm!