Shoes are normally the last item of clothing you put on; but have you ever thought about just how much your shoes reveal about you? Yep, it’s true. There’s even been a study, Shoes as a source of first impressions, conducted by Dr Angela Bahns, of Wellesley College, Massachusetts, and researchers from Kansas University. The result? […]
Why Picture Books Matter
“Our favorite picture books speak to us at the start of life and continue to speak to us for the rest of our lives. I find that an amazing achievement.” —Leonard S. Marcus Some of my earliest memories are centered around picture books. I still remember a beautiful picture book called Giselle, which inspired my […]
Raising a Reader
“The power of a parent or teacher sitting down and telling a story, allowing kids to paint pictures in their heads, is a very powerful tool.” —Tony Stead, Senior National Literacy Consultant, Mondo Publishing, New York Reading books to our young children is one of the most important things we can do, but in today’s […]
How a Mean Nun Taught Me to Love Reading
“The best way to get kids reading more is to give them books that they’ll gobble up.” —James Patterson The other night I was reflecting on my lifelong writing journey and a memory of an unpleasant moment I experienced in first grade surfaced. Unexpectedly, the memory turned into an “ah ha” moment, so it turned […]
The Best Things in Life Are Nearest
One evening not too many years ago, I was in the kitchen preparing a meal with my son. We were talking and laughing and having a good time, which isn’t always easy with a teenager. Enjoying a respite from a busy day and spending quality time with my son reminded me to appreciate what is […]
Don’t Dream It, Do It!
As an author, I’ve chosen to forgo the traditional publishing route, instead, embracing the murky, mysterious genre of direct publishing. Pretty bold, right? The decision to step away from traditional publishing was not an easy one to make, but after an enormous amount of research and weighing the pros and cons ad nauseam, I decided […]
The Beginning
I grew up with a pen in my hand. As a child – pretty much all the way through college – I was forever making up stories. The imagination is a wondrous thing and I was often lost in mine, my head filled with fanciful characters’ adventures in magical lands. Over the years, as I […]
