I was born in the Southern California town of Ontario: an enormous holding tank of smog in the summer and a perfect spot to view a snow capped Mt. Baldy in the winter.
I grew up devouring Judy Blume books and MAD magazines. Being a latch key kid, I spent many hours of my childhood alone, but writing always seemed to rescue me from loneliness. And although I enjoyed reading, it wasn't until my senior year of high school, when I read Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, that I fell in love with words.
My experiences in junior high and high school left a residue that I've never been able to forget. I've a strong sense of my "inner" teen, which led me to teach middle school English for nine years.
I stopped teaching when my daughter was born but continued to write poetry and read teen lit: my genres of choice. But when my son was born, I started hearing the rumblings of characters who needed to live inside a novel. All the voices of my characters, from the timid, dog-loving Natalie Kaplan to the apathetic and pigeon tending character of Carnegie Rhodes, have found me. I had no choice but to write them.
I believe there is no voice more unique and vital than the raw and unadulterated murmur of teens.
I currently live in San Diego with my husband, two children, cat and dog.
