Me! MY BOOKS! AND EYE!
My background
I am my mother's only child. Memphis is my home. I went to library school at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. It was there that Prof. Glenn Estes introduced me to picture books. At the University of Memphis, I took a Children's Literature Class from Prof. Ramona Mahood. She introduced me to author, Charles Turner, who inspired me to write WILLIE JEROME--my first picture book. Macmillan published it in 1995. I have not stopped writing. Picture books are my favorite! They allow me to sing and be poetic without a music education or singing voice. YOU DON'T WANT ME TO SING! Really.
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My writing roots
I discovered the poets, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks, when I was a child searching the crowded shelves in my parents' personal library. While I loved them all, my early writing was most similar to Paul Laurence Dunbar. I wrote for the ear to hear and the voice to speak the words like I heard them in school, church and the corner store. Langston, Gwen and I, have Dunbar in common. It was Paul Laurence Dunbar who moved us early in life to make words our vocation. Words are my work and the pathway to words began with poetry.
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My style
I love shoes, clothes and eyeglasses. I also love sparkly nail polish and any kind of scarf or jewelry purchased in a museum gift shop. My "style" of dress is creative and sometimes what I'm wearing makes no logical sense at all! As for my writing style, I aspire to write lyrical prose that are suited for read-alouds or a call and response. I seek to write books that children are compelled to read, "over and over again." This is my daily prayer when I take to my computer or sit with my writing pad. I want my words to be soul substance and a good time, mixed with a jolt of learning.
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