Born and raised in Scotland I grew up reading many authors including Joan Aiken, A.A. Milne, Roald Rahl, Michael Bond, Tove Jansson and Enid Blyton. They created and brought to life such lovable, funny characters and I was hooked on books. Years later, I read the same books to my children and the stories came flooding back to me.   Here I am now, hoping to see my own words in print, somewhere other than on my computer screen or falling off the printer. I've shed some dead weight and gained a new life as a para educator working with autistic children in a high school and I love it.I write picture books and have some easy to read chapter books also. My characters include a hamster who wants to fly, a gnu who is blue and a toad and frog who are best friends. There's the story of reindeer and what they might do on their days off and an owl who loves to read and overcomes his fear of flying to travel the world. Throw in an elephant who is the chief taste tester in a peanut butter factory, a cat who is a spy, the adventures of Highland cows, an unread library book who wants to be read and a family of hedgehogs and you hopefully see where I'm coming from.I'm in the process of trying to secure an agent who will, I hope, fall in love with my dear to me characters and also want to bring them to life. Northern California is my home now and I live with my fabulous children and various dogs and cats. Thank you for taking the time to read this, take care, Karen