For my entire childhood and schooling there was never a question of my becoming a teacher.  My father was a teacher then principal and mom was a school secretary.  So for 14 years I taught Middle Grades with a focus on English, especially writing.  Meanwhile I raised my four kids, encouraging creativity. As far back as I can remember I wrote stories, poems, songs and more.  I had several items published in the college literary magazine and worked briefly writing articles for a newspaper.  Somewhere along the way the idea of a series for Young Adults began to blossom in my head. Over the years I would begin writing then get distracted by raising my family or teaching.  Finally, once the kids were mostly grown and I was disenchanted with the constantly changing educational landscape, I retired to begin writing the book in earnest. After six months I had 225,000 words written. Then, after six revisions I ended up with two YA novels and six MG books. These were picked up by MuseItUp Publishing, a new Canadian publisher with huge dreams and an intelligent, fearless leader. Currently, I have seven contracts with nearly a book a month releasing through mid-2012. I'm currently working on the next three MG book in the Stardust Warriors series, as well as a YA Dystopian novel, the third YA novel in the Seraphym Wars series, and a new Tween series. Finally my husband said, "Quit teaching and write your book."  So I did.  And once I began writing the final version it was as though the story told itself. The characters came alive and new characters found their way into the book as did new situations and dangers.  When I originally began writing it there were no illustrations, but as it was rolling around in my brain the illustrations pushed forth and kept coming.  Now they are an integral part of the story. Book 1 Odessa of the Seraphym Wars YA series Book 1 Zarena of the Stardust Warriors MG series Prophecy of the Seraphym Wars YA series Jeremiah Holyfield of the Stardust Warriors MG series    

Odessa won Best Cover June-July 2011 Books In Sync