I’m a writer by soul, meaning it’s where I find my deepest enchantment in life. I love that word - enchantment - because it means more than just liking something. It implies the magical, mysterious, and wondrous, which is how I feel when I’m writing. I also find enchantment in art and the natural world - often in places off the beaten path, places of unspoiled beauty.

Over the course of my 55 years on this earth, I’ve written just about everything - political speeches, press releases, pieces of legislation, business correspondence, marketing materials, newsletters, textbook pieces, and grants worth millions (not that I saw those millions). One has to make a living after all. But the type of writing that brings me the greatest joy is creative writing - whether that’s poetry, a memoir project, or a picture book. I don’t confine my writing by age group, but rather let the idea itself define the age group.

I’m the author of the picture books The Homesick Club and Where is Bear? A Terrific Tale for 2-Year-Olds. I’m also the co-author of the picture books I Pledge Allegiance and Bravo, Chico Canta! Bravo!. My mother, the acclaimed Latina author Pat Mora, was my writing partner for these two books.

I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas on the US / Mexico border and have lived in lots of different places - Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia, and overseas in Madrid, Spain. I’m currently lucky enough to live in Colorado, surrounded by mountains, pine trees, and aspens. In the fall and winter, geese fly over our house every evening in giant Vs calling back and forth to each other - one of my favorite sounds in the whole world.

I hold degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Stanford Law School. I never found enchantment in being a lawyer, but it’s a helpful degree related to the “business of writing” which is very different than the act of writing itself. My feelings best summed up by lines from the movie Dead Poets Society (I know I’m dating myself) - the actor Robin Williams saying:

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”