I grew up on Long Island, New York to a Swedish mother and American father- two avid readers and adventure seekers. I was lucky enough to be able to spend summers with my Swedish family in Stockholm, Sweden.

As a child, I always loved reading and writing stories. After receiving a Master’s in Elementary Education and a Bachelor’s in Psychology, I set forth to educate young children. I have a strong passion for teaching mindfulness and meditation and I am a certified Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher.

After teaching for many years, and working with young children, I saw the impact of low self-esteem on children. This inspired me to write stories that send a positive message to all children. My new book, The Ugly Puppy reveals a simple yet profound message I want all my little readers to remember:

Your differences bring beauty to the world.

As a child, I spent a great amount of her youth nosing through books and learning two languages-Swedish and English. Although I had trouble "fitting in" while attending school, books became my best friends.

Not in a long shot, though, would I have thought about becoming a children’s book author. This seed wasn’t planted until the first year of my teaching career. As I read books during storytime to my first-grade students I saw the joy in their eyes when hearing about the adventurous characters and storyline, and I saw their faces light up with delight when hearing a happy ending. Nonetheless, I longed to read a story to these little ones about a character who liked being different, a character who was empowered by their distinct differences.

As a teacher, I witnessed a continued gap in children's self-esteem. Many of my students expressed that they feel insufficient about themselves. When leading mindfulness mediations during our morning routine and check-ins, many students would feel “like they don’t belong” or that they're “too different”.

I couldn’t let go of this intention I had in my heart. I wanted to spread positive and uplifting messages to young children. And I wanted to do it in a fun way. Seeing that there were little books out there that sent the message I wanted to send, I thought of a famous quote, " "If you don’t see the book you want on the shelf, write it." - Beverly Cleary.

So that’s what I decided to do.