I’m the author of a picture book, a series of board books, and dozens of short magazine and educational market pieces. I also won a hefty monetary prize in 2008 for writing a poem for a mustard museum. Yes, such things exist. In 2012, I won the Joan Lowery Nixon Award from the Houston SCBWI, and in 2013, I was a middle grade finalist for the Katherine Paterson Prize sponsored by Hunger Mountain, the literary journal of the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

My friend, Liz Jones painted this portrait, incorporating images from the places I’ve lived and some stories I’ve written.

The pink-blossomed branches are cherry blossom trees from my hometown of Macon, Georgia, known as the Cherry Blossom Capital of the World. The ocean scene is a memory from the years I lived in Florida. However, I’m near the beach again, here in South Texas. The oil pump in represents the time we spent in Oklahoma. Enchanted Rock, a batholith, located in Texas Hill country is pictured in the middle.The blue flowers are Texas bluebonnets. Why all the Texas imagery? I’ve lived in Texas three different times. I think we’re permanent Texans now.

The castle, three girls, daffodil, dragon, and the gigantic underwear are parts of a story I was working on when this portrait was painted. The large flowers on the borders are Rafflesias, the world’s largest flowers, also known for their intense stench of rotting meat. At the time, I was working on a poetry collection about unusual plants. The tiny hedgehogs and orange animals come from other stories.

That ancient typewriter is what I learned to type on. It belonged to my mother and is one of my most prized possessions. The dirt road represents the dirt road I grew up on and my writer’s journey. I’ve been kept by numerous black cats over the years (that’s right, you don’t own a cat), and the one in the background is our beloved Hodie.

The moon face over the castle? I honestly don’t know. Looks like it could be a part of a story, I’ve yet to write.