Tell us about your most recent book and how you came to write it.
My most recent book is Minnie McClary Speaks Her Mind. Like most authors, I invest a lot of myself in my characters and I've had a lot to say apparently about things that aren't right, that should be right. About how people should be treated regardless of ethnicity, gender, class, disability, sexual orientation, etc., etc. And I believe that children should be encouraged to think, not just fill in bubbles on state-mandated standardized tests. Miss Marx, Minnie's teacher, is the kind of teacher I wish I had been when I taught middle-school years ago. She encourages the students to think, to question, and to write about the things that concern them. It takes courage, especially these days, to be the kind of teacher she is.
Do you think of yourself as a diverse author?
I hadn't, I suppose because as a white woman I'm not considered "diverse", but my beliefs certainly fall into that camp.
