My first book, The Disappearing Act, and it’s sequel, Crimival, were inspired by childhood growing up in the carnival. While I was not a crime solving telepath like Zoe, my main character, I did experience some unique things that I wanted to share with my students, other children, and even adults. As a kid I always felt looked down upon as a carnie and even as an adult people would ask the craziest questions about growing up in the carnival such as “Have you ever lived in a house before?” Yes, I did live in a house and I went to school like normal kids. My family owned food concessions and I was the 3rd generation of a small locally owned family business. However, while the food truck industry has gained some fame as of late, it was still not seen as a local business which we all love to support. So I wrote about how I felt as a teen being discriminated against and judged as stupid when I was a straight A all honors student who also helped run a business. I also wanted to share how the carnival was like a family full of it’s good stories and also drama like any family. There were so many fun stories to share about the crazy events on the road like flat tires in the middle of nowhere, trying to move fairs in the middle of a flood, and more. I also wanted to share how much work running a small business especially a food concession really is as many view it as their ‘retirement gig’.
My second book, Kai’s Secret, was inspired by my time spent on an archaeology dig site in college. I always thought it was very Indiana Jones like and thought it would be fun to write about the science of archaeology to inspire kids to learn history.
