A Longer Story If You Want To Know More:

I grew up in a small-town neighborhood with lots of kids, spending my childhood days almost entirely outside. I loved climbing trees as much as I loved reading books, and sometimes I tried to do both at once. We were tremendously loved by my parents . . . but minimally supervised. My siblings and I roamed the neighborhood until my mom called us in for dinner using a cowbell. I only fell out of a tree one time, during a treetop game of tag.

Our childhood dog was a golden retriever, and I thought she was the best dog in the world. Decades later another golden retriever arrived in my life, Cassie (Cassiopeia), who was, well, the best dog in the world. My first pet was a kitty named Pansy, and I’ve enjoyed the company of many wonderful, occasionally eccentric cats over the years. Despite my childhood pleas, I never did become the proud keeper of a Shetland pony or a peregrine falcon. But my animal companions past and present continue to romp through my imagination and inspire my work.

My family worked in the book business and I grew up surrounded by volumes of every sort. Our town library was a constant fixture in my life. Each of my siblings and I can remember going with our mom to get our first library card, a milestone event. I loved walking to the library for new books, checking out the maximum number I was allowed, hauling them home, and spreading them out across my bed. Then I’d read the first chapter of each book to decide which one I would begin with. An early lesson in understanding the importance of hooking a reader in the first pages of a story!

After graduating from college, I moved to New York City and lived in a tiny apartment, working in the evenings as a barista. Soon I got my first “real” job: editorial assistant at Doubleday/Anchor Books. I wrote readers’ reports on an IBM Selectric typewriter, learned to be an editor, and fell in love with book publishing. After a few years I moved to Seattle, where I joined the two women who had founded the feminist publishing house Seal Press. In subsequent decades I helped grow Seal into a nationally known and award-winning company, eventually becoming co-owner and publisher. I also married my husband and raised our blended family. We have three amazing now-grown-up kids and two best-in-the-world grandkids.

Today I work on the other side of the publishing desk, as a writer. Timelight, my first novel, took several years and thirteen drafts to complete, but I’ve never had more fun. I’m already dreaming up adventures for the next story. (Stay tuned for Book 2.) It seems that books have always been, and always will be, a source of inspiration in my life.

When not at my desk, I love to hike in the mountains, swim in the ocean, dig in my garden, hang out with my family, read books, and eat ice cream, preferably salted caramel.