've recently received several emails from readers who are doing book reports and are interested in learning a little more about me. Well, my first response is, "you're doing a book report about me? Why?" Because it's so darn flattering and a little surreal. So it's hard for me to imagine that it's actually happening, but I've gotten enough emails to know it isn't a hoax, so in an effort to encourage good reporting I'll provide some biographical info here. Note: While I appreciate the perils of school assignments—not to mention general curiosity—I'm still a private person, as I think all authors are, so I don't share personal information. What's "personal" and who gets to decide? I do, I guess. I will not be providing any information that is common identity theft territory (like place of birth, date of birth, mother's maiden name, etc) because...well...I'm paranoid like that, and I think those things are only really important if you're going to go to my hometown and snoop around asking questions about me—in which case I'm REALLY not going to tell you. But here are the essentials. Born and raised in Oklahoma. (If your teacher gets on to you because I didn't say exactly where in Oklahoma, sorry. I'm still not saying.) Grew up on small family cattle ranch and was very active in the operation. My father is a farmer (obviously) and my mom is a high school English, speech and creative writing teacher. I have one older sister. I wasn't actually a huge reader as a kid, but I've always loved stories of all kinds: movies, TV, plays, books. When I found a book I liked I read it dozens of times (like To Kill a Mockingbird), and I could spend hours with my sister making up stories of our own. I was co-Valedictorian of my high school class and attended Oklahoma State University. From there, I went to Cornell University where I received my masters degree. I was very good at school. I have zero husbands, children, and pets and five semi-healthy houseplants. I am a terrible speller and slightly-above-average typist (so it really makes me mad when people say they can't write a book simply because they can't spell well and don't like to type.) I am also a very mediocre writer, but I'd like to think I'm an above-average re-writer, and publishing companies don't publish first drafts for a reason. The most important subject I studied in school was my mother's speech class. We wrote plays and speeches and I learned to love public speaking—the most important skill a person can posses for future career success, in my opinion. I am a member of a Baptist church and the Friends of my local library. I love going to the movies, and the first serious things I ever wrote were four (fairly bad) screenplays. CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE was my first book, followed by I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU. Next came Solitaire's sequel, LEARNING TO PLAY GIN. All are currently available (but you may have to ask the bookstore to order them for you if they aren't in stock.) My literary agent is Kristin Nelson from the Nelson Literary Agency. Love You Kill You has been optioned for film by Walden Media with Debra Martin Chase (The Princess Diaries, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Karen Glass signed on to produce. I have no idea if/when they will hold casting calls, but if I do find out something I'll post it to my blog and newsletter ASAP (but don't hold your breath.) My biggest pet peeve in a book is when a writer "tells" lots of information as opposed to "showing" information. Also, books that don't have good pacing. My favorite writers at the moment are Megan Shull (Amazing Grace), Alison Pace (If Andy Warhol had a Girlfriend), E. Lockhart (The Boyfriend List), John Green (An Abundance of Katherines), Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), Jill A. Davis (Girls' Poker Night), Jennifer Weiner (In Her Shoes), Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries), and JK Rowling (Harry Potter). When I have free time I like to go to the movies (anything but horror) and sleep (it really is a hobby—I swear), play with my sister's kids, and visit my parents on the farm where I grew up and hope to return someday. I love baking, reading, watching TV (I swear it's not the bad thing some people think it is.) I don't subscribe to a single magazine and have never owned, nor had a desire to own, any kind of videogame apparatus. I am very good with money and always pay my credit cards off in full every month. I've never really liked to shop. I'm a Democrat. I think everyone should go away to college if they can possibly afford it. My favorite exercise is walking. Like Julia says in LEARNING TO PLAY GIN, I think the world would be a better place if there were more Melanies and fewer Scarlets...just as long as I get to be one of the Scarlets. I like to write at night and rewrite during the day. My first drafts are incredibly, laughably, embarrassingly bad. Hopefully my final drafts are considerably better. I vastly prefer working without a deadline and think that Stephen King's advice in On Writing about writing the first draft with the door closed and the second draft with the door open is incredibly important for my personality and writing style. So that's it, gang. What I've provided here might not be classic book report information or not, but I think it tells you a lot more about me than dates of birth or high school transcripts would ever say. So that's what you've got. 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