I am a retired elementary school music teacher I want children to be glad to learn and to have fun reading. That's so important when they get older. We live in central Florida now after years living in central New York. I taught chorus. I loved the kids in my choruses, but a chorus of kids takes up a whole lot of time. I've enjoyed my grandchildren, music, bird watching and pets. My pet rock sits beside me when I write. My ¿rst story was published in the Christian Herald. It was about my trip with our children when they were very young. We went to visit my father in Florida when he wasn't well. I'm thrilled Kirkus Reviews describe The Mysterious Growing Gum as "A fast-paced, cheerful and kid-centered mystery/adventure". I was very happy when my book received a Florida Writers Association award for The Royal Palm Literary Competition.My son was mischievous when he was small. I couldn't count the times I told him "Derek - think about what will happen if you do that!" There were so many times growing up he just couldn't remember what I told him. Derek once made a very creative mess - that's what inspired me to write the Mysterious Growing Gum. Our family learned lots of really unexpected things can happen when children are small. They're funny now. I hope my story shows how something unexpected can happen to good kids with good parents. Even when children can't "think about what will happen if you do that!" everything can turn out OK. I've had more time after I retired and I loved writing my stories. It would be nice if I could put The Robot Chickens and Gertrude and the Gobble-Up in an anthology, but what I want most is for kids to have fun reading The Growing Gum.