One of the best moments in my life was when I realized I could read. 

It happened when I was about four years old. For perhaps the 150th time, I asked my dad to read the Berenstain Bears book Bears in the Night. I'll never forget how overjoyed I felt inside when all the letters started to finally make sense! Then I quickly realized that I didn't just want to read books, but to write them, too. My mother still has all the stories my kindergarten teacher helped me write by typing them up as I told them to her. Since then I've written a plethora of short stories, poetry, and journalism articles. I'm now seeking representation from a literary agent for my novel Professionalism and I'm writing my next book, Across the Nations: The New World. 

Thanks to my amazing husband, I'm finally able to live my dream as a full-time writer! Previously, I was a professional photographer, marketing specialist, and substitute teacher. I studied journalism/social documentary at the Metropolitan State University of Denver and wrote and photographed for their newspaper, The Metropolitan. 

Some unusual facts about unusual me:

• I'm a former volunteer storm spotter and currently my brothers and mom are, too. My family loves meteorology and growing up in northwestern Illinois, we had plenty of great storms to keep us on our toes!

• My most unconventional pet was a tarantula named Rose.

• I played violin in my high school's mariachi band my senior year.

• I used to be a competitive ballroom dancer.

• My nickname is Dusty from The Three Amigos and my brothers are Lucky and Ned. Using plethora above was an intentional homage to the film.

Some of my favorite books: 

Circe by Madeline Miller

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

And everything by Edgar Allen Poe!