I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. We moved around a lot when I was little, so I can easily pin down my age based on where we lived, which means I was maybe 6 when I first made this proclamation. My writing has changed quite a bit over the years, although I am still proud of the short story I wrote in 8th grade about an orangutan named Inconspicuous.My writing focuses on characters. I've created stories about ghosts, clones, monsters, escape artists, mermaids, circus performers ... I'm all over the map. But in every single story I do my utmost to get into the minds and hearts of my characters. I love to put them in awful situations to see how they feel, and how they think. I want them to agonize over their choices, and I want what they choose - or don't choose - to matter. I want the reader to feel joy when a character succeeds, and to cry when they don't - just like I do when I'm writing the story.