Short Version:

I never wanted to be a writer like my mother, Jane Yolen. After college, I became a probation/parole officer and then a private investigator. But, after becoming a stay at home mom, I gave in and started writing, first with my mom and then alone as well. For the last 18 years, my mother and I have lived far apart, so we have done most of our writing together during visits or through cyberspace. We send portions of stories though email and spend way too much time on the phone.

Now, I live in Hatfield, Massachusetts where I grew up. Even though all I have to do is yell into the next room since my mother is being nice enough to share her office with me, we still send our stories to each other over the internet.

I grew up in Hatfield Massachusetts with my parents and my two younger brothers. We were raised on an old tobacco farm. One of our barns was converted into workshops where artisans of all types (silversmiths, potters, leather workers, etc.) worked. My mother worked at home as a writer and my father, now an ornithologist, was a computer science professor at UMass Amherst before being Chair of his department, and then retiring.

When I graduated from High School, I left Massachusetts for Florida where I received my BA in Human Resources/Social Work from Eckerd College. During my college years, I taught reading to illiterate adults, interned at a half-way house for felony boys and a grief center for homicide survivors, and worked with emotionally disturbed children. I was hired as a probation/parole officer in Ft. Lauderdale in 1990. Between then and now, I worked as a private investigator and as a waitress -- both jobs being fun for very different reasons.