I write fiction for teens, read books for everyone, and used to blog weekly at Operation Awesome. Sometimes I still can't keep my writing brain from overflowing, so I blog about writing here. Staying involved with other writers is important to me; I have served as the president of the committee that oversees the Whitney Awards, and this year I'm on the committee that puts on the Storymakers Conference. I also work part-time as an administrative assistant at a literary agency, which marries my love of spreadsheets and my love of books.
This is my family. I think they're pretty great. My husband's job recently moved us to Arizona; we're all trying to get used to the idea that everything here (plants, wildlife, the air) wants to hurt us. My kids have widely varying interests, from drawing, to military history, to unicorns. My husband can build anything, and we have the tool collection to prove it.
I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, all that jazz. I like to let my nerd flag fly whenever possible. Languages fascinate me; I studied Spanish from middle school through college, with a year of French in there just for the heck of it. I'm learning Korean now--the goal is to someday be able to watch K-dramas without using subtitles.
I recently got into a show at the local community theater; it's wonderful to have a creative outlet that allows me to interact in person with fellow oddballs. While I love writing, it can definitely be an isolated pursuit.
I have a Master's degree in Genetic Counseling, which I used to teach a class called Genetics 101 for Writers at the Storymakers Conference a few years ago. If you ever have a genetics-related question for something you're writing, hit me up!