Biography
I have always been passionate about writing, for which I credit my high school English teachers in Newark Valley, New York. I have a Technical Writing Certification from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, as well as a Bachelor's of Science Degree in the Management of Human Resources from Roberts Wesleyan College, also in Rochester. I live with my husband, two children, and two dogs in Northern Virginia. I have always loved dogs, and the very first dog my family and I owned as a Portuguese Water Dog named Nalu, who inspired me to write this book series. Since I work as a Librarian at an independent school in Northern Virginia, I wrote the book as a historical fiction book with a little fantasy thrown in. I deliberately made the chapters very short, with larger text and including a drawing for almost every chapter, in order to appeal to both reluctant and avid readers. As an educator, I felt it was important to include maps of the area where the book takes place (Portugal in Europe), as well as a timeline for Portugal to show where the Portuguese Water Dog became a part of the Portuguese culture. Children need to be able to see themselves relative to a story and where the story fits in time.
