Answers to most often asked questions:

Where do you get your ideas?

I keep my ears tuned to the “interesting channel” because the world is fascinating and filled with compelling stories. The struggle isn’t coming up with ideas or even narrowing them down.  The challenge—or joy—is discovering fascinating stories with a unique twist.

What is your research process?

Each of the nonfiction picture books I’ve written began as a question in search of an answer. My curiosity leads to research, and it is research that (hopefully) leads to storytelling.

My first stop when researching is the children’s department in my local library. Because I write for children, I want to learn as a child learns. Once I have a basic grasp of the information, I will move on to adult resources. 

How do you know your idea will make a good book?

Sometimes I know right away. I can visualize the story’s arc: beginning, middle, and end. Other times I plod around for a while, researching and writing drafts, hoping the story will come together. The difficulty is admitting (no matter how attached I may be to an idea) that it will not work as a picture book. On the flip side, when an idea does bloom into a story, it’s magical!