I grew up in Kingston, a suburb of Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Most of my childhood memories involve drawing, painting,
or doodling. It’s a happy coincidence that my dad
worked at a paper supply company.
I studied illustration and art history at Washington
University in St. Louis, MO. After graduating, I moved to
Cleveland, OH, to work as a humorous writer/illustrator
for American Greetings. While there, I created a card line
called “Skitch” that was pretty successful and ran for about seven years. I’ve also worked as a freelance writer for AmericanGreetings.com, EGreetings.com, and BlueMountainArts.com.
I’ve worked for other companies, too, but I’m afraid my days
of folding clothes at the GAP doesn’t make for a
thrilling life story.
In ‘95, I met my husband, Mike, an I.T. Project Manager (yes, together
we’re “freak and geek”), and we married in ‘96.
Our daughter Mollie was born in 2000.
That same year, my first professional comic strip, “Got A
Life,”
was syndicated with King Features Weekly Service.
It followed the lives of a newly married couple that closely mirrored my husband and myself.
It was much more crudely drawn
(and embarrassing to look at now), but the writing style
is a definite precursor to The Pajama Diaries.
In 2002, I gave up the weekly strip to care for my
second-born daughter, Nicole, and to begin thinking
of a new cartoon idea. I tend to draw upon my own
experiences, and I wanted to create a strip that echoed
our new family dynamics. I was also reading a lot about the
plight of modern, stressed-out mommies (something I was
a teensy bit familiar with). I thought this would be a good
opportunity to come up with a relatable strip for others
like myself. Thus the Diaries was born.
It launched March 27, 2006.
Today, I continue to work part-time as a contract writer for
American Greetings. I usually work on the strip during
most week days, and I write the cards on weekends
and some week nights. Somehow I manage to squeeze in
a bit of family time, so my kids seem pretty well-adjusted
and not yet ready for intensive psychotherapy.
I’ve known since college -- maybe earlier -- that I wanted
to be a syndicated cartoonist. It wasn’t easy getting here, but
so far it’s worth it. I love working on the Diaries -- I hope
many people like reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
