The Author/Illustrator
I was born in Chicago (my father was a psychiatrist and my
mother, a poet). And no, that did not work. My early years
were spent alternately between San Francisco and Los
Angeles living in what I remember as an orphanage, and
then with a series of wonderful and interesting relatives:
two artists, a screen writer, a chess champion and a
violinist. My education in those cities and in Santa Barbara
was focused on art and architecture. I met my husband,
Eric when I was fifteen at Muscle Beach in Santa Monica,
and we've been together ever since. We live in a home I
designed and Eric, together with our late son Christopher,
built in Santa Barbara.
The writing of FROM SHALLOW WATER has been obsession
with me for six years, and my research was done primarily
in France, however I decided to illustrate the story after its
completion. This will be my only adult novel, but I've
already completed three volumes in a series of illustrated
children's books, THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF JAJU
(to be released in 2014).
My favorite author is Ian McEwan, music is classical and
movies are too many to list. We love foreign travel without
guides, groups, reservations or itineraries, (our dump-off
trips). Incidentally, the M. stands for Mary, but I've never
felt like a Mary, so I've used my middle name, Laurel
I was born in Chicago (my father was a psychiatrist and my
mother, a poet). And no, that did not work. My early years
were spent alternately between San Francisco and Los
Angeles living in what I remember as an orphanage, and
then with a series of wonderful and interesting relatives:
two artists, a screen writer, a chess champion and a
violinist. My education in those cities and in Santa Barbara
was focused on art and architecture. I met my husband,
Eric when I was fifteen at Muscle Beach in Santa Monica,
and we've been together ever since. We live in a home I
designed and Eric, together with our late son Christopher,
built in Santa Barbara.
The writing of FROM SHALLOW WATER has been obsession
with me for six years, and my research was done primarily
in France, however I decided to illustrate the story after its
completion. This will be my only adult novel, but I've
already completed three volumes in a series of illustrated
children's books, THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF JAJU
(to be released in 2014).
My favorite author is Ian McEwan, music is classical and
movies are too many to list. We love foreign travel without
guides, groups, reservations or itineraries, (our dump-off
trips). Incidentally, the M. stands for Mary, but I've never
felt like a Mary, so I've used my middle name, Laurel
