I grew up in New Jersey, the youngest of three children. We had lots of books in our house, and I loved looking at the illustrations. But I wasn't an early reader.

    In first grade, I listened enviously as kids  sounded out words from the squiggles on the pages.

     How do they do that? I wondered.

     Finally, the squiggles started to make sense to me. But our beginning reader books were as dull as old crayons, and for me it was slow going.

    Then one day, I picked up a story about reindeer herders. As I turned the pages, I imagined myself living in a tent, cooking over an open fire, and following reindeer through the snow in the far North.

      I'd discovered the thrill of exciting books -- and I was hooked.   

     Soon, I was going to the library every week and checking out armfuls of books. I began to dream of becoming a writer. When I was fourteen, I got my first real job -- working as a library page after school and on weekends.

     In college, I majored in English and spent lots of time as a reporter and editor for the student newspaper. I earned a B.A. cum laude from Cornell and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

     My husband and I live in New Hampshire, near the beautiful Connecticut River -- which is the setting for my newest mystery!