I was born in Iowa, but raised in several small towns around Colorado, so I'm used to being the new kid! And it's not easy, especially when you are very skinny and kind of dorky. I loved to read, and also played a lot of softball, volleyball, and I ran track--even though I'm slow.

My favorite outings were trips to the local library, where I would sign up for yet another new library card and check out more books than I could carry. I always participated in summer reading programs and still do, even now that I'm a "grown-up."

I have always been a writer. I used to scribble poetry in various notebooks and hide them under my bed. A couple of those poems were published in literary mags when I was in college.

I got my first real writing gig as a senior in high school after begging the Haxtun Herald's owner for a job--any job--at the newspaper. I was a cub reporter, took photographs and covered the rec league softball and baseball games, town meetings, and school events.

I decided to become a journalist and went off to college in Oklahoma. After switching my major (and schools) a number of times, I finally graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a Bachelors in English and a minor in Technical Writing.