More About Liesl

I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah the fifth of eight children. My seven siblings tortured me but I really like them now. I loved dancing, singing, playing the piano and reading books by Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and Roald Dahl. I also read Grimms’ Fairy Tales so often I wore through the binding.

Every summer my parents piled all the kids in a 12-passenger van, complete with a license plate that said 8SGREAT, and drove to California where we did NOT go to Disney Land. We spent our summers on mountains and lakes and beaches, which is far more magical than Disney Land if you really think about it. (Also our van broke down a lot, which was not so magical.) Some of my favorite memories include hiking, water-skiing, and collecting seashells, sand dollars, crabs, clams and giant starfish.

In college I studied Music Dance Theatre at Brigham Young University. Performing was what I had always wanted to do, but after I had my first child I found that belting show tunes during naptime is counterproductive. Seeking a quieter activity, I started writing. At first I thought it was just a creative substitute until I could do what I really wanted, but stories grabbed hold of my heart and I’ve never looked back. Sorry Broadway. It just wasn’t meant to be.

Today I live with my husband and four children in Chicago, which is a wonderful city except that it is decidedly flat and very cold in the winter. When I write, I often wander back to my childhood and gather the magic that still remains. I hope to share that magic with children everywhere.