A love of travel and history have contributed significantly to my writing, as I enjoys weaving the culture and past of other countries into my novels. My books have won numerous writing awards. My latest novel, "When the Tamarind Tree Blooms," (April 2024) is about a young métisse, half-Lao/half-French, in 1931 French colonial Laos. As Geneviève Dubois turns eighteen and leaves the French orphanage where she has been trapped for fourteen unhappy years, she is determined to uncover the story of her parents and locate her missing twin brother. Stepping into the deeply divided societies of French colonials and native Lao, she finds neither group readily accepts her mixed heritage. Where does she fit in? I am also the author of "In the Company of Like-Minded Women" (2018), which explores the complexities of bonds between sisters at the start of the 20th century when women struggled to determine their future and the “New Woman” demanded an equal voice. My novel, "Across the Mekong River" (2012), is now available in a French, "De l'autre côté du Mékong." This story evolved from my interest in the Hmong and Lao refugee communities in my home town of Sacramento. My children’s works include two picture books, "All About Thailand" (2016) and "Thai Celebrations for Children," (2022) with Tuttle Publishing. I am also the author of the middle grade Martin McMillan mystery/adventure series, which features skateboarding heroes Martin and Isabel: "The Lost Inca City," "The Secret of the Ruby Elephant," and "The Sacred Stones". These books are fun reads, appealing to both boys, girls, and reluctant readers. My young adult novel, “Montana in A Minor,” stems from my passion for music, an interest in the complexities of modern family life, and a belief that everyone appreciates a good love story! I was born in San Francisco and raised on the peninsula in the Bay Area. I attended the University of California at Davis where I earned a bachelor’s degree in history, then California State University Sacramento for a master’s degree in economics. I live with my husband in Sacramento, California.
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