The Basics
My first book (Sucks to Be Me), came out in 2008 and was followed by the sequel (Still Sucks to Be Me). I still hear from readers about it, and that always makes me happy.
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 (I lived in Chicago then, where the book is set).
My next book was Ask Me, which I wrote after I 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 series 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 two talented illustrators.
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.