Kerry Crowley fell in love with writing in 7th grade, but thought the only way to make a living as a writer was working for a newspaper. She went off to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, had a blast and made life-long friends. Along the way, she also managed to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism with a minor in radio and television. Her first job as a reporter was for a weekly newspaper covering snoozefests a/k/a town hall meetings. She then got her big break and landed a job with the Waukesha Freeman, a local daily paper. Not being a morning person, she found the hours of 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. horrendously inconvenient. She also found her introverted personality did not lend itself to peppering people with questions, as a good reporter should. If she had been able to find someone else to gather all the information and bring it back to her, she would have made a fine reporter. That’s not how it works, however, and she quickly found she was miserable. She decided to switch gears completely and became a paralegal instead, putting her dreams of writing on the back burner. She started a family and focused her efforts on raising her sons, while continuing to work part-time. One day an advertisement for a writing course through the Institute of Children’s Literature caught her eye and she decided to apply. She was accepted and her passion for writing was reawakened. She finished the course with encouragement from her instructor, Constance McAllister, a former senior editor for Highlight’s Magazine, and actually started to believe she might have what it took to be an author. After all, writing fiction requires little to no interaction with others, unless you count the characters inside your own head. Then one day, while watching football, her family started making up crazy sounding names and a character was born. Mucus Phlegmball started to take shape with the help of her two young sons, who took some inspiration from one of their favorites, Captain Underpants. When her boss proposed a change in work location which would require her to drive quite a distance from home, she decided to give up trips to the office and concentrate on her true calling. She joined AllWriters’ Workplace and Workshop and with the help of her instructor, internationally published award winning short-story writer and novelist, Kathie Giorgio, and the Wednesday afternoon writing group, began a five year journey to publication. She lives in Genesee, Wisconsin with her husband, two boys, a dog, two cats and a crested gecko. Although her kids have grown into mostly unhelpful teenagers, she can still occasionally rely on their odd sense of humor for inspiration. She is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Snoogers Rule, Mammoths Drool: Introducing the Amazing Mucus Phlegmball is her first middle grade novel.

Five Fun Facts about Me

1. As a child visiting the family farm, we used to ride the cows because we didn’t have any horses.
2. I used to worry my sister’s goldfish was lonely, so I would pick it up and pet it every day after school.
3. I could spend hours sitting peacefully in, on, or near any body of water (lake, ocean, pond, pool) with absolutely nothing to distract me.
4. If I did not have a husband to tell me no, I would probably own more cats and dogs than a person really should.
5. My younger sister and I used to drink soda at room temperature because it made for great burping contests. My father is mortified to this day.