My Backstory
About Me (told by Danielle)
I was born in Cape Town, South Africa and moved to the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts just before Kindergarten. Talk about culture shock!
Growing up, I played the French horn, guitar, and clarinet (okay, only for six weeks). I also took dance, ice skating and pottery classes and that's just to name a few. I have three younger sisters and a brother, so there was always something going on in my house. My basement was a 'stage' to showcase homemade plays, build elaborate forts and reenact school lunchroom scenes with Barbie dolls.
My first book, Mommy Can I go to the Zoo, was eighty-seven words and only one copy was printed by Mrs. Peterson, my first grade teacher and her trusty lamination machine. That's all I needed to fall in love with writing. But if you ask my parents, they'll say I really got my start taping up "I hate you" notes around the house whenever I was mad at them. After that, I churned out angst poetry and kept a humorous observation journal about daily happenings.
In college, I wanted to be a writer and an actor, but eventually the writing side of me took over (and I can barely sing Happy Birthday in tune), so I earned a degree in Creative Writing from Emerson College. From there, I continued my studies at Emerson and received a Masters in Marketing Communications & Advertising. During those years, I was a DJ on the world music show, the Gyroscope at WERS Boston 88.9 FM. I also interned at several commercial radio stations and even wrote public service announcements.
After that my husband and I were craving warm weather (I missed the South African sun and my husband grew up in Haiti and was not a big fan of the snow), so we packed up a moving truck and drove south to Miami.
Upon moving to Miami, I worked in copywriting and as a middle school English/Creative Writing teacher before I decided to share my stories full time. After my first son was born, I joined a critique group and finished my novel, For Clarissa's Eyes Only which now remains locked in a drawer. I eventually sold three young adult novels, Shrinking Violet, Indigo Blues and Pure Red. Then in February, 2012, Shrinking Violet was adapted into the Disney Channel Original movie, Radio Rebel starring Debby Ryan!
My picture book biography about South African freedom fighter, Ruth First, RUTH FIRST NEVER BACKED DOWN, releases in Fall 2023. Check back for more details. I love writing for kids of all ages!
Danielle at age two.