The "Queen of Clubs" in the "Deck of Cards" costume I created one Halloween. I entered a costume contest and won a stuffed, green alligator!
I was born in Madison, Wisconsin, where my parents met during graduate school. I grew up on the East Coast, where I
attended Georgetown University Law Center and practiced law in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Illinois. In 2007, my family and
I moved to the Pacific Northwest where we now live with our mischievous cat.
Writing has always been a passion. I've been writing stories for years and publishing my writing has
been one of my greatest dreams. I was most influenced to write by my mother, but both my parents are excellent writers.
I love writing stories for children.
Before You Were Here, Mi Amor (Viking, 2009) was inspired by the birth of
my sister's first children.
The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred (Charlesbridge, February 1, 2011) popped into my head
while I was cooking. I laughed, envisioning a cow contributing her milk and a hen offering her eggs. My plot
began evolving and I started writing. My rhyming alphabet story,
ALPHABET TRUCKS (Charlesbridge, Fall 2013) is my first all English
book. Ironically, two years before writing
ALPHABET TRUCKS, my children's agent told me she had a dream I had written a book about trucks! I laughed at the time.
Surprisingly, inspiration came in 2009 after attending a writing conference.
Favorite Books
My list of favorite books is lengthy, but six at the top include "Watership Down" by Richard Adams, "Lonesome Dove" by
Larry McMurtry, "The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay, "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole, "The Bear Went Over the
Mountain" by William Kotzwinkle, and "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.
Some children's favorites are "Dinner at the Panda Palace" by Stephanie Calmenson, "One Hungry Monster" by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe,
"Agent A to Agent Z" by Andy Rash, "Brave Irene" by William Steig, "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "It's Hard to Read
a Map with a Beagle on Your Lap" by Marilyn Singer, "Ruby Flew Too!" by Jonathan Emmett, "When Agnes Caws" by Candace Fleming,
"The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis, and the "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling.
Learn more about Samantha.
