1. What did you want to be when you grew up?
I think, like many little girls, I wanted to be a ballerina.
2. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer/illustrator?
In college.
3. What’s your first childhood memory?
My mother reading to me.
4. What’s your most embarrassing childhood memory?
Having to stand in the corner for chewing gum at recess.
5. What’s your favorite childhood memory?
When my father gave me a horse for my 12th birthday.
6. As a young person, who did you look up to most?
My father.
7. What was your worst subject in school?
Math!
8. What was your best subject in school?
English, by far.
9. What was your first job?
Waiting tables.
10. How did you celebrate publishing your first book?
With a very good Oregon Pinot Noir.
11. Where do you write/illustrate your books?
I illustrate using a Wacom tablet at my computer. I generally still write longhand, however.
12. Where do you find inspiration for your writing?
From all the wonder in the world around us.
13. Which of your characters is most like you?
One of my dancing polar bears.
14. When you finish a book, who reads it first?
My daughter or husband.
15. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Morning!
16. What’s your idea of the best meal ever?
A very good Osso Buco.
17. Which do you like better: cats or dogs?
I love them equally.
18. What do you value most in your friends?
Loyalty.
19. Where do you go for peace and quiet?
My back yard.
20. What makes you laugh out loud?
My pug, Figgy.
21. What’s your favorite song?
Blackbird, by Paul McCartney.
22. Who is your favorite fictional character?
Anne of Green Gables.
23. What are you most afraid of?
Something happening to one of my children.
24. What time of year do you like best?
Summer in Oregon. Autumn in New York. Spring in England. Winter in Colorado.
25. What’s your favorite TV show?
Little House on the Prairie.
26. If you were stranded on a desert island, who would you want for company?
My husband.
27. If you could travel in time, where would you go?
Renaissance England.
28. What’s the best advice you have ever received about writing/illustrating?
Write what you know.
29. What do you want readers to remember about your books?
My hope is that my books will make children feel more loved.
30. What would you do if you ever stopped writing/illustrating?
Travel!
31. What do you like best about yourself?
My sense of wonder.
32. What is your worst habit?
Biting my fingernails.
33. What is your best habit?
Living in the moment.
34. What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?
My children.
35. Where in the world do you feel most at home?
In my bed with my menagerie of animals.
36. What do you wish you could do better?
Listen.
37. What would your readers be most surprised to learn about you?
Perhaps that the favorite gift my husband ever gave me was a ladybug.
