In addition to being a teacher, I am also a visual artist and a
website developer. In making these books I have used all these skills.
I began writing and drawing stories when a fellow teacher planted
the idea in my head. The books were a great success with my students.
The system for customizing the text in the first few books was rather
clumsy and time consuming, so I tapped my skills as a web designer
to make the process easier. When our school were closed for 2 days
in January due to extreme cold weather, I found the time to patch
together code which would automate the process of making the books.
I also found fonts which were more appopriate to emerging readers.
My work as a visual artist (primarily painting and photography)
can be seen at www.emeraldstudio.com
My web design work is primarily focused on creating sites for visual
artists. The site dedicated to that work is www.fineartpost.com
I teach ESL at Orchard Ridge Elementary. I work there half time
and devote the rest of my hours to painting, web design and fathering.