Beginning with Charles Dickens, we began taking family research trips. In England we saw every Dickens museum, every house still standing in which he had once lived, and everything else Dickens-related we could think of. We took about thirty-five rolls of film. All this proved to be so helpful, especially in making the illustrations more accurate, that we have since traveled to Egypt for Cleopatra, to Italy (twice) for Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and to France for Joan of Arc. In the fall of 2006 we traveled with friends to Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague to research Mozart: The Wonder Child.

 

In addition to the research trips, I spend many weeks of the year traveling around the country (and around the world) speaking at schools and at conferences for teachers and librarians. I try not to be on the road too much, however; I need time at home to be with my family and get my books written.

 
Home, for many years, was Houston, Texas. But In 2003, after almost twenty-five years of living in there, in the same house where I raised my three children, we said a tearful goodbye to wonderful friends and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We now live 8,000 feet up in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Though the views and the weather are different here, I’m doing pretty much the same thing I always have. When I'm not traveling, skiing, hiking, gardening, or watching the beautiful sunsets, I can usually be found in my studio writing or painting and feeling extremely grateful to have such a really cool job!
Hiking the Aspen Vista trail in Autumn
Winter in the Jemez Mountains
In my studio (it's not always this neat.)