Linda has been writing as long as she can remember. Her first works were poems, written in response to a delightful illustrated children's anthology entitled "For a Child". As a child, she especially enjoyed horse and dog stories, mythology from many countries, all of the color-theme "Fairy Books", "Alice in Wonderland", and "Robinson Crusoe".  She majored in humanities in high school, where she studied Latin, Spanish, and French as well as English. In college, she majored in English. Her most powerful influences at that time were William Blake, John Milton, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and   the poets of the English Romantic period. In college she also met Dorothy McKinsey, a brilliant and dedicated children's literature professor, who introduced her to wonderful books she had missed reading in childhood, including "Charlotte's Web", "At the Back of the North Wind", "Bat Poet", the Lloyd Alexander fantasies, the Beverly Cleary books, and the Judy Blume books.  Since leaving college, she has attended many writing classes and workshops, including seminars with YA author Gloria Miklowitz, poet James Galvin, and former poet laureate of the US, Robert Pinsky,   Daughter of California scene painter Charles F. Keck, Linda is also a painter and photographer.

A credentialed and experienced K-6 classroom teacher and Language Development Resource specialist, Linda has written, edited, or adapted more than 40 books for children and teachers.