My mother is from Germany, and my father was born in India and raised in Pakistan. Therefore I grew up with a very interesting mix of fairytales in the household. For as long as I can remember, my mother read me the dark, imaginative tales of Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, allegories from the Koran, and the tales in The Arabian Nights. Naturally my imagination developed to include all things creepy, enchanted and grotesque.

 

We spoke mostly German at home, with only a smattering of English in my vocabulary until I started going to school. Still, this didn't prevent me from writing my own stories, which I bound and illustrated. They were such a weird mix of English and German that no one could read them (but hey, that's what the pictures were for!) Many of these stories were later used to entertain my sister Shaheen, who was born when I was four. There was one story in particular that I told her every night for years and which never seemed to end.

 

 

Our family moved around a lot. The year I was ten we lived in Media, Pennsylvania, where my fourth-grade teacher encouraged me to draw, write, and to read my stories out loud to the class. She made such a big difference in my life I never forgot her (thank you, Mrs. Fitzgerald!)

 

After living in California, France, and traveling in Germany, I came back to the United States thinking I wanted to be a child psychologist. I loved kids and I loved learning about them, so that's what I went to college to do. But the pesky problem of it was, I still only ever wanted to tell stories and draw the pictures for them. No matter what I did, the Big Question kept looming over me: is this going to allow me the time and freedom to write and illustrate? So I finally came to my senses. I began to pursue illustration. I built my portfolio, attended conferences, and endured rejection slips. Three years later, I illustrated my first picture book.

 

Along the way, I've had some bizarre and wonderful jobs. I worked as an English tutor in Rennes, France (I got paid to chat with people!) I also worked at a shelter in rural Virginia for abused and neglected animals (this job involved wrestling a belligerent goat off the roof of the building back into her pen.) Most often, I have worked as an art teacher at Montessori schools. My dream came true: I got to spend time with kids, and write and draw.

 

Currently I live and paint in Austin, Texas.