I grew up in a farming town in Northwest Missouri — the daughter of a banker and a librarian, which may or may not explain why I can’t balance my checkbook and always forget to return my library books on time.

I attended college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and, after a brief stint in Colorado, landed in Southern California. Although I’ve worked for a variety of publications, I spent the longest stretch of my news career at the Long Beach Press-Telegram covering criminal justice and special projects.

Since leaving newspapers in 2008, most of my work has focused on writing for and about children. I authored three books for the Girl Scouts of the USA – including MEdia and BLISS — which advocate media literacy while keying teenage girls into their own strengths and aspirations. The books were published in December 2010.

My latest nonfiction project, Relax, It’s Just God, was borne out of my own experience as a nonreligious mom trying to introduce my daughter to religion in a healthy, open-minded and honest way.

I live in Southern California with my husband and daughter and am represented by literary agent Kristina Holmes.