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Once upon a time, my family was known by the cowboy brand, the Rafter Four. The brand had four lines for each of my four brothers and two roof lines for the parents. One day my mother announced that the boys would have to change the brand. My oldest brother was 23 at the time and about to get married.
"That's dumb, Mom," he complained. "We can't go changing the brand every time one of us guys gets married."
"That's not why the brand has to be changed," my mother explained.
My brothers were stunned! A new baby was coming!
So because of me, the family brand became the Rafter Five. It looks like this:
 I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona on a "ranch" that had orange groves and horses, cows and goats in fields. Since my brothers were older and I didn't live in a neighborhood full of kids, I spent a lot of time playing by myself. I made up stories for my stuffed animals and dolls to act out. I invented speaking parts for everyone, imagining all kinds of adventures for them. I didn't know it then, but I was actually practicing to be an author some day. I also loved to read, especially Wind in the Willows, Tree in the Trail, the Nancy Drew mysteries, and Donald Duck comics. I still love to read. If you asked me what my hobby was, I'd have to say Reading. My favorite genres are historical fiction, mystery, and humor. I've read so many great books, I couldn't single out just one book or author. My favorite subjects in school were history, art, and Spanish. I started learning Spanish in the First Grade and later majored in Spanish in college. I also studied French and Swedish. Someday I want to learn Japanese. I've lived in many different states: Arizona, Hawaii, California, Idaho, New Mexico, Kentucky, Washington, and Colorado. Moving around a lot helped me learn to make new friends quickly. Thanks to e-mail, I can keep in touch with my friends from other places. My family now includes my husband (also a writer) and two dogs. My dogs' names are Poni (a terrier/poodle) and Misty (a standard poodle.) Since we don't have children, I get to be the kid in the family. Readers often ask, "How old are you?" That's hard to answer. My birthday cake glows with more than fifty candles. But inside, I'm still that ten-year-old girl making up stories and inventing dialogue. Being a writer means I can be anyone, go anywhere, do anything my imagination creates. Some days I'm a dog. Other days I'm a gold miner. I can even be Cinderella if I want. What a great life!
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