FAQ
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing for almost as long as I can remember. (I say “almost,” because one of my first memories is of proudly declaring I was three years old, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t write then.) As a kid, I created a family newspaper with my sister a la Little Women, only with fewer clever stories and more shaky comics about an older woman with a hooked nose named Bedle. In high school, during my pretentious phase, I wrote poems for my friends with such amazing rhymes as “clerestory” and “extraordinary.”
Writing was pushed aside while I completed a physics degree, discovered a love for nutrition, became a registered dietitian, and somehow was a mom3. Why did I raise it to the third power? Because being a mom of three kids aged seven and under is just that much more MOM.
Underneath the story of my life is a love of writing. As a young physics program graduate, I worked on research papers for a biomechanics engineering journal. As a registered dietitian, I wrote articles and started my food and nutrition website.
(That’s a lot of “I” sentences. What was I saying about being pretentious?)
I started writing fiction again in 2011, paused while we moved all over the US, and picked it up again when my firstborn was six months old. Since then, I’ve worked my way up to living in my made-up worlds, pausing occasionally to wrangle a toddler off my back.


So, you’re a writer AND a registered dietitian? What does a registered dietitian do, anyway?
Registered dietitians help people and populations learn how to live healthy lives by offering nutrition expertise and guidance on how to achieve health goals. Dietitians work in hospitals, community centers, grocery stores, food service centers, fitness centers, and more. Unlike a self-styled “nutritionist,” a registered dietitian has a four-year degree in dietetics and completed 1200 hours of hands-on training to earn their expertise. As a dietitian, I enjoy helping people focus on and accomplish their nutrition goals.
I still love chocolate cake, and I eat it often.
For an in-depth look at what registered dietitians do, check out my Day in the Life of a Registered Dietitian series.
Curious about my own journey to become a registered dietitian? Check it out.
What are your favorite books and authors?
A very short list of favorite children’s books/authors:
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin (check out her incredible picture books, too)
- The Gilded Girl, by Alyssa Colman
- Doll Bones, by Holly Black
- When You Trap A Tiger, by Tae Keller
- The Mad Wolf’s Daughter, by Diane Magras
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington, by Janae Marks
- The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill
- The Infinity Year of Avalon James, by Dana Middleton
- The Thing About Jellyfish, Ali Benjamin
- The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
- Bob, by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead
- Josephine Against the Sea, by Shakirah Bourne
- Clues to the Universe, by Christina Li
- Birdie’s Billions, by Edith Cohn
- Book Scavenger series, by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
- Bartimaeus series, by Jonathan Stroud
- Anything by Madeleine L’Engle

