At age 9, she had a crush on Paul McCartney from the Beatles
Around age 15, she was fascinated with Robert Kennedy and got to meet him on his presidential campaign
Her first book, When I Was Young in the Mountains, only took her ONE hour to complete
Painted Dog Heaven book, while in Oregon, in three weeks (never painted before this)
All of her books are based on and inspired by her memories as a child in the Appalachian Mountains
She designed and illustrated a good portion of her books
Never planned on being a writer, but thought she had to do something meaningful with her life
Her son was named after Nathaniel Hawthorne, the famous author