I was born in Chicago, Illinois, but went to stay with my Italian grandparents in Buffalo, New York when I was eight months old. I watched as they gardened, canned, and cooked up mouth-watering meals. At two-and-a-half, I traveled by train, across the United States, to Burbank, California. I grew up in a creative home with two loving parents and a younger brother. You can read about them if you'd like by clicking on their names:  Louise J. Yocum, Vern Yocum, and Ray Yocum. Interesting people were always coming and going, like my uncle Clark Yocum and his singing group:  The Pied Pipers, bandleader Bob Keene, and others in the entertainment industry who rehearsed in my mother's dance studio, located next to our house. Joyful music surrounded me as I played in the yard. Like a thirsty sponge, I absorbed sounds which would later influence my work.

I wasn't a particularly good student in grammar school. In fact, I remember being scared at school quite a bit. It didn't help when - for what seemed like a long time - my fifth grade teacher called on me each day to recite multiplication flash cards in front of the class. It was a funny thing, but I had the hardest time memorizing the seven's, eight's and nine's, even though I had no trouble memorizing other things. From that year on, I had a difficult time with math. Under a scrutinizing eye my mind went blank, but that was also the year I wrote my first poem. To my surprise the teacher liked my poem so much he framed and hung it on the wall for Open House. I have been writing poetry ever since. Perhaps I decided to become a teacher because they can affect someone for a long time.

I loved to dance and dress up in costumes to perform in shows. Sometimes Mother and I performed together. And I loved being read to. Father was always busy, but he often took time to read to me from Childcraft books. I especially enjoyed the fairy tales. Books became friends, but I did not become an avid reader until I met my high school English teacher. Her adoration of books was contagious. When she handed out her list of classic titles from which to choose, I picked the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

For the first time, I completely lost myself in a story that I read myself. I found it hard to put the book down to do anything else. Since then, it has been my practice to keep books by my bed to read each night before going to sleep. I am most grateful to have discovered the magic of books.

I graduated from Burbank High School and completed my B.A. degree in Education and Human Development at Antioch University. As a young adult I studied a variety of subjects and earned a Montessori teaching certificate. My self-tree grew many new branches: educator, storyteller, composer, and writer. I founded the Hodge Podge Lodge Children's Center in Northern California, and directed this school for twenty years.

Working with preschool children in the morning and older children in the afternoon, I fashioned many different programs between 1972 and 1993.  I became an Orff-Schulwerk specialist, which means I learned how to play with rhythms, words, and ideas, stir them round and mix them in with my own unique style, to create something original. Through private and public systems, I wrote dozens of songs, felt board stories, and plays to augment curriculum. I had fantastic fun, and since I still loved to dress in costumes, often I was in the plays too.

I was employed ten years teaching college students and training teachers. Older students, like younger ones, needed help to discover they are filled with unlimited potential. With supportive coaching, students were surprised by their creativity. While leading them, I experience great joy in creating tiny homemade books of my thoughts, poems and short stories, which I gave as gifts to loved ones and friends. At the center of everything I taught was the belief that, to learn best, all the selves of the person: the cognitive, social, physical, creative, and emotional selves must be engaged.

When many children in my sphere of influence lost family members, I was called to do crisis counseling. This led to Hospice and Nurses Training in Bereavement, and later into developing a healthy-grieving-process workshop for children, making classroom presentations on loss and death, forming a grieving mother's support group, presenting A Place To Start workshops at many conferences, and teaching a college class on Loss and Death with psychologist Donna Emerson.

The inspiration for my first book, The Story of Orange, came as a result of observing children being bullied by older children who were laughing at their art work. The light in their eyes disappeared and their attitudes turned negative. Soon after, a young student gifted me her drawing of an orange-striped zebra. That character came alive in my imagination and began to take on a life of his own. He became the star of a full-length musical production that toured in Northern California from 1987 to 1994.  I saw the power of story to touch lives in a profound way.

Sometime later, I was invited to write a few scripts for a cable television show. This was an enjoyable experience, especially going into the studio to watch the shows being filmed. I've also had opportunity to write some articles. But it is writing for children that most attracts me. They are my muse and the audience which brings me joy. I feel most fully alive when working with children and birthing something into the world which enriches their experience.

I find ideas everywhere, however most of my story seeds come from my family. For a time, I've lived far away from my grandchildren, Brendelyn and Onnivin. To stay connected, I began sending them "smiles in the clouds" and "hugs on the wind". One day while writing an email to my good friend, author Marsha Diane Arnold, I signed "hugs on the wind". She thought this the perfect title for a children's picture book. A collaboration began and Hugs on the Wind is the result. I'm grateful that Susan Van Metre, our wonderful editor, believed in our story as much as we did.

My journey to become an author has been a process. Each life experience has added a new layer of motivation, compelling me to write. Currently, I am completing my parent's biographies, working on two middle grade readers, have a new story planned with Marsha, and one day soon I shall begin the historical novel that is simmering in the back of my mind. Painting with words is hard work but immensely rewarding. I've met wonderful people on this path. Each has blessed and enriched my life. May I take this opportunity to say thank you to my many helpful friends!

Vernise & Marsha Diane Arnold

HOW YOU CAN BECOME AN AUTHOR

1. First, READ READ READ everything you can. It is especially helpful to read books in the venue you want to write in. Picture Books and Middle Grade Novels are very different. We must understand the differences to be successful.
2. Next write! I think starting with a journal is best. Later, you can look back in your journal and find authentic descriptions of feelings and nice tidbits to use in your work.
3. Write for yourself, not to get published. Write about what interests you and what brings you joy. When you feel your story is as close to perfect as you can make it, have someone with an eagle eye look it over. Wait several weeks and read it aloud. If you still feel it is ready, submit it to a publisher and immediately start on a new project. That way you will not be counting days because it takes a long time to hear back and often it is a rejection you will receive.
4. Join a professional group. I recommend the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) which you can find at www.scbwi.org . You will receive a good list of publishers in the materials they give you.
5. Join a writer's critique group. If none is available, start your own.
6. Read books about writing. One I recommend is: Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott.
7. Keep reading. Keep writing. Keep submitting and one day all the elements will come together. You must be prepared to keep writing and submitting your work, no matter how thick your rejection file grows.

FIVE QUESTIONS I'VE LEARNED TO ASK MYSELF BEFORE SUBMITTING MY WORK

1. What is the point of the story? What do I think my reader will get from reading my story?
2. What is the problem my character solves or obstacle s/he overcomes to get what s/he wants?
3. Is my plot substantial? (If s/he solves the problem too quickly or by coincidence my plot will not satisfy)
4. Did I start at the beginning? Or if I begin earlier or later in the action would the reader be drawn into the story more quickly?
5. Does the ending satisfy?