I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband, Craig, and my big black dog, Romeo. I love to read, garden, take very long walks, cook (and eat!), play with my grandkids, and write.

My fiction books for tweens include NOVA ROCKS! (written under the pen name, Tea Emesse), the first in the Star Sisterz series from Mirrorstone Publishing. NOVA AND THE CHARMED THREE was published February 2006. A silly rhyming picture book, TUB TOYS, (Tenspeed/Tricycle Press) was written with my older son, Tim Warner. My next picture book, IN MY VERY OWN YARD, will be published from Hyperion Children's Books. I've also written two middle-grade nonfiction books for Scholastic, NEW HAMPSHIRE and OREGON. Educational publishing companies including Trillium, The Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, Rigby, CTB/McGraw-Hill, Reading A-Z, and Benchmark Press publish my educational books and stories.

My essays have appeared in READER'S DIGEST, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, KNITLIT TOO: STORIES FROM SHEEP TO SHAWL, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TEACHER'S SOUL, A CUP OF COMFORT FOR SISTERS, A CUP OF COMFORT FOR MOTHERS AND SONS, A CUP OF COMFORT FOR WOMEN IN LOVE, THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, INTUITION, THE OREGONIAN--and have recently appeared on coffee can labels from Story House Coffee!

CRICKET and TEEN MAGAZINE have published my short fiction. "Older" short stories have appeared in magazines in Ireland, Scotland, England, and Australia. I've written articles for SUNSET MAGAZINE, PREMIER LIVING MAGAZINE, CBSHealthWatch.com, HealthGate.com, and many other publications and Web sites.