I grew up in Florida--Orlando, Daytona Beach, and Tallahassee. My first book, which I wrote and illustrated by hand in a 1970s alternative "enrichment" school near the ocean, was titled "Arnold the Crab and Other Stories." The first and only print run was one copy. Arnold was me, and he and his family lived undersea. The main goal was to improve the interior decoration of the sea cave--Arnold had a lot of ideas.In addition to wanting to continue writing and making books, I wanted to become a teacher. After studying creative writing and elementary education at Florida State University, and eventually earning a PhD in English, I started teaching at the college level in Texas, and then in Michigan. I still write almost every day, and think my teaching gets better every year. I feel extraordinarily lucky to have such a rich professional life, doing the two things I always dreamed of doing.I've published three volumes of poetry, three books on the craft of writing, a book of linked short stories, and a children's book. My new book is a memoir, You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know: a true story of family, face blindness, and forgiveness. I'm at work on a new memoir.When I'm not writing or hocking my students, I'm reading, riding my gorgeous svelte Bianchi, or wishing I was writing.