In first grade, I wrote and illustrated my first story. It was called "Little Horse and Little Lamb." In fifth grade I tried writing a novel about a girl and a boy who go on a grueling barefoot quest across North Carolina to find penicillin for their younger brother who has tonsillitis. Both stories are still in a box in my bedroom closet at my parents' house. That's probably a very good place for them to stay!

I graduated from Duke University  in 1975 with an A.B. in English Literature. In 1977 I received a Masters of Arts in Communications with a major in writing for Radio, Television and Motion Pictures from UNC-Chapel Hill. I worked for several years writing and researching public television programs for UNC-TV in Chapel Hill. After that, I lived near Chicago and worked in the training division of a large accounting firm. For the next 15 years I worked as a free-lancer, writing pretty much whatever people hired me to write -- articles, speeches, training tapes, public television programs, brochures, and even menus!

My first story appeared in 1997 in a literary magazine called The Plum Review. A shorter version of that story, "Under the Jell-O," later appeared in Cricket Magazine. My stories and articles for young people have also appeared in Spider, Cicada,  and Odyssey.

At my grandmother's funeral, my mother told me that she was one of the first women in New Bern, North Carolina to learn how to drive a car. I'd never known that and became interested in my grandmother's childhood. She grew up the youngest of eight children, on the coast of North Carolina. Her mother died when she was two and her father was a fisherman and carpenter. And, amazingly, she had saved all of her letters and many photographs, back to 1909. She had a pretty ordinary life but she'd overcome lots of adversity and I became convinced it was a life worth celebrating.

I started a story about my grandmother driving a Model T, and the story got longer and longer and before I knew it, I had a novel. That book is called Eleanor Hill, and it won the 2000 N.C. Juvenile Literature Award.

    In middle school a friend and I wrote a story together. My friend thought up the story and I typed. This led to the inspiration for my second book, The Princesses of Atlantis.

My third book, Write Before Your Eyes, is a tribute to the wonderful fantasy stories I read and loved as a child, and also to the power of writing to change our lives.

I also enjoy writing for adults, and several of my stories have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies.

I live in Mooresville, North Carolina, with my husband, who is a veterinarian. Our college-aged daughters visit frequently. The Kline "family" also includes three cats (Miss Pearl, Little Buddy, and Mo) and two spoiled little dogs named Calvin and Candi.

In addition to my writing I have also been a tongue-tied disc jockey, a radio copywriter, a zoned-out waitress, and a disorganized but trustworthy veterinary hospital administrative manager. I read and evaluate manuscripts for individuals and various publishers. For a recent job I learned to drive a forklift!

In 2008 I was proud to earn my Master in Fine Arts from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Legendary children's authors I have loved since I was a child include: C.S. Lewis, Katherine Paterson, Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Madeleine L'Engle, E.B. White, and T.S. White.

My books are available from local bookstores (please support independent booksellers) as well as from other online distributors.

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