Then, in about 1998, things began looking up and I was able to devote my free time to writing what I really wanted to write--underwear labels. Just kidding. I really wanted to write books for kids. So I started. But right about then, we had our third kid--Rayanne. So I often had to stop in mid-sentence to change a diaper or make sure someone wasn't creating their latest work of art on the wall--out of oatmeal.

Where It All Began

Well, let's see, it started when I was a baby. I wrote about burps and poop and getting my first tooth.

Okay. Maybe I didn't really write anything when I was a baby. But I would have if I could have.

When I was in kindergarten, my parents sent me to a special art class where I made a clay turtle and other things (that's me in the class, painting). I liked art but found out I liked writing better. I wrote and illustrated my first book when I was around 12 years old, The Laziness of Peter Rabbit.

Anytime we did a special project at school, I chose to write, including a newspaper that discussed Huckleberry Finn and a play about the Pullman railway car. When we were learning about Vienna, Austria in grade school, I wrote the words to a song for part of a report (but my partner sang it because I can't carry a tune worth pinto beans).I also wrote a really bad novel when I was 15. It was exciting to type 144 pages, especially the last page where I wrote THE END.

If you want to find out what I'm up to now, check out the Blab-o-Denise—my online journal.

Writing a book report?

You’ll find info here and also on the Q & A page where I give answers to the most frequently-asked questions for book reports and other stuff about me and my life.

If you have questions about a particular book (how long it took me to write it, etc), check out the FAQ for that book. Just go to the Books for Tweens page, Books for Teens page or Books for Kids page and find the book you have questions about.

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