I have been given the gift of a son with autism. This has enabled me to write several books that help increase awareness and understanding of children with autism. I also work as an advocate and help people with a wide variety of developmental disabilities receive funding for services. I am able to share all of these experiences with families, children, educators, and others when I do public speaking and author visits.In addition, when my younger daughter was in fourth grade she was assigned a research project on Iroquois Food. When we could not find adequate resources, we began some major research and I began thinking about writing nonfiction for children. My research on Native American foods has continued for over twelve years and I have had the honor on presenting some of my research for the Indian Health Services at the inaugural meeting of the Indigenous Foods Coalition. Throughout my childhood and youth and while raising my children, we experienced many unique situations, several of which will make great story ideas. I have a few in works now and am looking forward to submitting them to traditional publishing houses.