Denise Melissa BristowBorn and raised in San Diego, California, Denise Melissa Bristow has always known that her life would center around her love of children--first as a graduate of Penn Foster's Child Care Management program, then as a mother herself, and now as a passionate graduate with honors of the Writing Children's Books program at Ashworth College. Denise's love of creating stories has encouraged her to pen several romance and suspense novels, and has also led her to her life's passion--writing children's books. Denise finds inspiration for her children's stories from Gizmo, her rescued Boston Terrier, and Donatello, her pet turtle, as well as from her two now-grown children, Kenneth and Heather.Denise's stories tend to cast lovable characters with the courage to overcome obstacles of immense proportions--which is no surprise, for Denise herself beat the odds when she fought and won her battle with cervical cancer over fifteen years ago with the support of her husband Clayton. Today, Denise balances her busy schedule of creating children's stories with her ardent support for cervical cancer research and volunteering at her community's elementary school.