The Basics
My first book (Sucks to Be Me), came out in 2008 and was followed by the sequel (Still Sucks to Be Me). My husband calls my first novel a “vampire bat mitzvah” story and he’s kind of right.
That was followed by the book that is the most me (as in, the main character could be me if I could actually talk to cats other than in my head): Cat Girl’s Day Off. I had a great deal of fun writing that one, especially researching Ferris Bueller movie set locations (we lived in Chicago then, where the book is set).
My next book was Ask Me, which I wrote after we moved to London. It’s set in the Florida that I grew up in (i.e. backwoods, not beaches). If you had ever asked me if I was going to purposely cram a bunch of symbolism into a novel, I would have laughed at you. I was that kind of English major (seriously, not everything is a phallic symbol and I find Ulysses unreadable and Thackeray unbearable). But, indeed, I did, so the last laugh is on me.
The Accidental Wizard is my first book for younger readers and was a great deal of fun to write because I was able to play around with fairy tale creatures–including gnomes! It’s also my first fully illustrated novel, which was quite an experience! It was amazing to see the characters brought to life by the very talented Jason Cockcroft.
As for me, I was born in California and have lived across the United States (Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky, Illinois) and now live in the UK, which has more history than you can shake a stick at, even (or perhaps especially) down random cobblestone alleyways.
I am married to my college sweetheart (we’ve now been together longer than we’ve been alive separately which kinda blows my mind) and we have a son who is the coolest kid ever (I’m not kidding. He’s a manga-reading-computer addicted guitar playing dude and he’s awesome–and officially taller than me).
We also have a dog named Marley J. Kravitz (my son named him after Bob Marley and Lenny Kravitz) who is not the sharpest tool in the shed but will cover you in dog kisses and fur and sit on your lap even though he’s a tad too big for that. I used to have cats, but they have passed on. I miss them terribly.
We lived near Portobello Market for over seven years, which I adore (there’s even a song!), but moved in 2020 to Coventry for a new adventure.