Twice in my life, I received a fortune from a fortune cookie that read “You are a lover of words. You will someday write a book.” I never expected that fortune to come true, but here I am! My writing process is pretty messy–I go for a long time without any good ideas, then I’m struck with something that won’t let go, and I stay up way past my bedtime to get it just right. My sensibilities lean toward texts for the very young, especially preschool. I spent some of the best years of my career as an editor at Viking Children’s Books, where I specialized in picture books and easy-to-read books. I enjoyed very much bringing books into the world and am very proud of my own books. I’m currently a library director in Ohio, where I live with my nerdy professor husband and our brilliant daughter.

My “Viking Life”

I was at Viking Children’s Books for six years before leaving publishing. This list represents every project I worked on in that time.

Belinda the Ballerina

I did the editorial work and saw initial sketches, but the final artwork wasn’t delivered before I left Viking.

Bug Muldoon: The Garden of Fear

This was a British import; it was published without illustrations in the UK. I collaborated with our designer to jazz it up with illustrations from Elwood Smith.

Busy Busy City Street

This was in the AIGA’s 50 Books / 50 Covers exhibit.

Busy, Busy Mouse

I did the editing and approved the illustrator before I left, but the artwork wasn’t available when I left Viking.

Clickety Clack

This is the very first manuscript I acquired; the authors, the illustrator, and I worked on our very first projects together.

Do You Remember the Color Blue?

(Co-edited with Jill Davis) Jill Davis very kindly asked if I wanted to work on this book with her. Because of Jill, I was able to experience working on non-fiction–not my normal genre–and material for an older audience.

Hats off for the Fourth of July

This was a project from a packager–I had some input on the content of the text.

Let’s Count the Raindrops

I selected the texts for this collection of weather-themed poems and negotiated the reprint rights–not something I want to repeat. Phew!

Luther’s Halloween

This was originally proposed as a Tiny book, but that changed after I left Viking. I edited the text; the picture book as it is now was not part of the original plans.

On the Go with Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe!

This was the first Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe book; we hadn’t planned a series, but there are two more Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe titles that came out after I left.

I collaborated with the Puffin editor on these titles.

Raindrop, Plop!

I acquired this manuscript before leaving Viking; the editing was done before I left, but the illustrator hadn’t been assigned.

Roald Dahl’s Even More Revolting Recipes

I converted all of the measurements to US measurements (this was a British import) and gave input on the jacket design.

Seal Island School

My first chapter book project.

The Seal Island Seven

The editing was complete before I left, but the illustrations hadn’t been delivered.

Silver Seeds

Acrostic poems about nature–my first poetry book.

Ten Little Mummies

Found in the “slush pile”–a counting book featuring mummies who disappear via one mishap or another.

I’m very proud of all of my projects, particularly the Tiny series–it’s still in print after almost twenty years; new titles are still being added to the series; Tiny’s Bath was the easiest easy-to-read Viking had ever published at that time; Tiny Goes to the Library is dedicated to me by the author. (Tiny Goes Camping was an incomplete project when I left–the text had been edited, but the illustrations hadn’t come in yet.)

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