At a young age, I wanted to be the wolf whisperer, but I accepted the family’s Travis husky as a close second for companionship in my woodland wanderings. I collected edible (hopefully) wild plants and offered them to my mother. My dad put me to work in our vegetable garden, but mostly, I sat between rows of peas and ate what I picked. Later, Island of the Blue Dolphins was my favorite book.

I left Rochester, New York, to attend Pomona College, sight unseen, and majored in botany because of their great field trips. I went to graduate school in biology and had a career in ecology and environmental planning. Gardening has been a lifetime favorite. I like to visit botanic gardens, work in my own garden, and harvest fruit the deer leave for us. Native plants are a passion that inspired me to write our book titled California Desert Flowers. My husband took all the gorgeous flower pictures and we spent many weekends camping in desert hot spots. After the book was published by University of California Press in 2004, I turned to fiction and have immersed myself in writing classes, workshops, critique groups, and similar. Fiction is harder than fact, but I love it and keep working on my books.