Laurie Bauman Arnold

I live in a house on a rocky beach on Bainbridge Island, WA, with my wonderful husband, Steve; my perfect fuzzy dog, Scout; and my psychotic cat, Zoe, who mostly hides under the bed. The other dog in the photo on my home page is my neighbor’s golden retriever, Jake, who always likes to get in on the action. Believe me, we tried to lure him away with a biscuit, but he was having none of it. The more the merrier, I say.

I’ve written and designed countless interactive computer games. Okay, maybe not countless, but at least 50. They’ve featured original characters such as Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear for Humongous Entertainment, and Huggly for Scholastic; plus many characters who you probably know and may even love as much as I do – Madeline, Little Bear, Harry Potter, The Little Mermaid, Clifford, SpongeBob, and Mr. Potato Head – and lots of others that frankly, I’ve lost track of. I also wrote a trio of picture books based on Putt-Putt (the little purple car – not the mini-golf game).

I’ve had stints writing scripts for animated children’s TV shows such as Dragon Tales for PBS and What-a-Mess for ABC. Unfortunately What-a-Mess lasted only a season. It was about an out-of-control Afghan puppy who wreaked havoc everywhere he went. Mostly I was disappointed that the show got the axe because I had so many stories left to tell based on my own Labrador retriever who had such an insatiable appetite that he devoured a couch and ate all the seat belts in my car. I guess I’ll have to save that for another book.

And finally, after my sons, Jordan and Dylan, moved off to college, I decided to try to write a novel for two reasons. One: I wanted to dig into characters and story in a way I never have the chance to do when I write for interactive and television. And two: because I was afraid I might fail, so I thought it was an excellent opportunity to try to prove myself wrong. I hope I did!