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My 4th grade picture, age 9.

I was born in St. Louis, Mo., on August 26, 1943. I am the oldest child and have a younger sister and brother. We lived with my Italian grandparents and every night my grandpa told me a story before I fell asleep. We always had a lot of pets: dogs, rabbits, a bird, and even a monkey, Mr.Tibbs. Our German shepherd, Prince Schoen, was very mean. I was afraid of him. He was very much like Brutus in my book, The Curse of Rafferty McGill.

I loved books and reading. My grade school didn't have a library or media center. Every two weeks a bookmobile came to our school and we would check out books. I read Nancy Drew mysteries, horse stories, and biographies. The first books I ever owned were given to me by my Irish grandmother. The books were about a pioneer boy named Jet and his adventures crossing our country in a covered wagon. I read and reread those books over and over.

What a dancer at age 12.

I read every chance I could, even when I was supposed to be washing dishes or doing homework. I also liked to write stories. I wrote every day in a diary or journal. I named my diary "Dawn," and pretended Dawn was a real person, so it was like writing to a friend rather than writing to me. I wrote about all kinds of things-what I did, what I liked, and what I wanted to be when I grew up. I had to hide "Dawn" because my younger brother would try to steal the book and sell it to my friends. Though I loved writing, I never thought about becoming a writer. I wanted to be a famous ballerina or tap dancer. Every week I took ballet and tap lessons. When I grew up, I went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Instead of becoming a dancer, I became a teacher and taught elementary school. I loved teaching and wrote plays and skits for my students to perform. When my husband and I moved to California, I stopped teaching and began to write for children. Now I have the best of both worlds. I read and write books and I love talking to boys and girls about writing.

Though I don't teach elementary school anymore, I still spend time in classrooms. I've given workshops for adults on writing for children at California State University (CSU) San Bernadino, CSU San Diego and Learning Tree University. Currently, I'm an advisory board member at CSU Fullerton for the development of a new curriculum in Writing for Children through CSUF Extended Education.

I live in Anaheim, California with my husband Jim. Our three grown daughters and three grandchildren live in different states so we get to travel. And just in case I ever stop writing. . . I still have my tap shoes.

Me at age 6, curls and all.

My sister Fran (front) and I (age 5) sitting on a pony.