I was born in Lakewood, Ohio, in 1943 and grew up in Rocky River, Ohio. I graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with degrees in both English and Spanish. I was blessed to have married my high school sweetheart, Richard Snyder. After our wedding in 1965, we moved to Naperville, Illinois, where we raised our three children, Michael, Megan and Molly.I began teaching Spanish and Language Arts in their Catholic School in 1978. When I retired in 1991, I decided this was a great time to start that novel that had been swirling around in my head for years. I completed two novels, some short stories, and poetry. Some of my poems were published in the Today's Poets section of the Chicago Tribune.I loved teaching writing and received a Master's in writing form National Lewis University in Chicago. I became a fan of Nancy Atwell's Writing Workshop and used her program to teach writing to my seventh and eighth graders.Mona Lisa's Makeover is my first children's book. This was inspired by the first of my nine grandchildren, Gabrielle. After she was born, I proceeded to douse her with bright red lipstick kisses much to her parents' dismay. My husband dubbed me Grandma Lipstick, an alias that has stuck with all the other kids, family and friends.I plan to create a series of books including each of the grand children. Grandma Lipstick is the one who creates havoc while they remain the "good guys"!My other loves are painting, knitting, beach walking and swimming. I have a small business called DOG PARK DESIGNS which started when I began creating whimsical portraits of my friends' dogs. Of course, there is some amount of lipstick involved as well. Here's a big red lipstick kiss for all my readers. I hope you enjoy the book. Karen Snyder aka Grandma Lipstick