When I was nine years old, I loved seeing my dad's car in the school parking lot at 3:00. I was very social, even back then, and usually the last student to leave the building. When I got to the car, inevitably he would be laughing out loud over something he'd just read. "What's funny?" I would ask. And he would read from James Herriot or Mark Twain. I didn't always understand the humor, but I wanted to. My dad's enjoyment of good books drove me to read and then to write because I wanted to make people laugh, too--or cry or shiver or swoon. I wanted to make them feel through words. Now I write and I teach writing. My debut YA novel, Just Daisy: A Gatsby Retelling gives voice to a quite misunderstood and demonized character. I manage Keeping Classics, a blog designed to keep classic lit relevant and keep kids reading it. I'm an empty-nester who raised four truly interesting humans. I share a cozy home with my husband and my rescue pup who I read to on the patio with a cup of robust tea when she isn't scaring birds and chasing squirrels.