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ABOUT ME

  • Hometown: Niceville, FL

  • Favorite Books: ​

    • Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

    • The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

    • Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

    • No, David by David Shannon

    • In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

    • The Poet's Dog by Patricia MacLachlan

    • Silksinger by Laini Taylor

    • Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems 

    • The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

    • Carver, a Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson

    • Stop Pretending by Sonja Sones

    • One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    • Sage for Sanctuary by Felicity Pullman

    • Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

  • Favorite Writers: 

    • see above and

    • Jane Yolen

    • Margueritte Henry

    • Virginia Hamilton

    • Jack Prelutsky

    • Roald Dahl

    • Holly Black

    • Ellen Hopkins

    • Diana Hutts Aston

    • Julie Fogliano 

    • and too many others to list

  • Children: 2, boys, grown (mostly)

  • Dogs: Maggie and Olive

  • US States: All of them except Hawaii, Alaska, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. (I've lived in seven of them.)

  • Instruments: ukelele, banjo, cello, harmonium, not well enough to play in public

  • Music: almost anything but no words while I'm writing

  • Childhood memory: standing at the top of a metal slide in a hail storm (not a suggestion)

  • Favorite classes in school: 

    • English

    • Geology

    • Biology​

  • African Countries I've visited: (15/54) Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Mali, and Zambia.  (I've landed in Mauritania and Sierra Leone, but I didn't get off the tarmac, so I'm not counting them.)

  • Favorite Teachers: Mrs. Hackett, 6th grade

    • Mrs. Johnson, 10th grade

    • Dr. Robert A. Larson, Okaloosa Walton Community College

    • Laurel Heffner, yoga

  • Favorite Movies: 

    • Matilda

    • Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast

    • Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl

    • Tolkein

  • Favorite Century: 14th, but I wouldn't want to live there

  • Favorite Food: 

    • fruit

    • chocolate

    • brussel sprouts (seriously)

  • Favorite Places

    • beaches

    • deserts

    • mountains

    • big cities

    • plains

    • small towns

  • Cats: allergic

  • Education: BA English, MA English, MFA Poetry, RYT Yoga, Creativity Coaching

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