Writing
I've been a professional writer for 18 years.
I've been an un-professional writer for roughly 44 years, beginning when I first wrote my name in backward letters — I blamed it on being left-handed, my parents blamed it on me being four years old.
My handwriting has improved marginally since.
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The University of Minnesota was nice enough to grant me a Bachelor's in English. A significant amount of time later, I walked across the stage to receive my MFA in Writing for Children from Hamline University.
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When I'm not writing books, I write commercials, which is a lot like writing picture books and novels, except in all the ways that it isn't like that at all.
Picture Books
I write a lot of picture book manuscripts. And then I write more of them. And then I re-write them. Over and over.
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Along the way, I've been fortunate enough to learn from the likes of Laurel Snyder, Phyllis Root, and Marsha Chall.
Novels
I don't write a lot of novels (mainly because they are much, much longer than picture books). To be completely honest, I've written one novel. Well, that's not 100% true—I'm currently writing one novel. I'm on draft 1.5. It's a process.
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Some of the talented folks who have helped guide this book along are Laurel Snyder (again), Phyllis Root (again), Gary Schmidt, and most recently, Peter Geye.
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I can't wait to share it with folks when it's ready.