An only child, I grew up in rural Michigan, losing myself in acre upon acre of forest and in books.  I was introverted and extremely shy, fascinated and awestruck by the natural world, and among my favorite ways to amuse myself was drawing and reading.

I fled Michigan soon after graduating high school, taking my babysitting and fast food earnings and moving to Olympia, where I was delighted to find a new world of Riot Grrls and other cultural misfits, and where my eccentricities were considered completely normal.