Tricia Gardella

Web site: www.boydsmillspress.com/authors

Tricia Gardella was born in San Francisco, but her family moved to Sonora, California when she was still a young girl. She grew up in the Mother Lode country and loves the area. She married her high school sweetheart and moved out to his family ranch.

This ranching experience has formed the background for much of her writing for children. In Just Like My Dad,Gardella's first book, a young boy puts on chaps, spurs, and his cowboy hat for his first day working alongside his father on the family ranch. In her next book,Casey's New Hat,a young girl searches for the perfect new cowboy hat as she and her father run errands to the feed store, the clothing store and to the veterinarian.

Ms. Gardella has always been a voracious reader. She always thought about writing, but there were always other things to get done. She was raising children, helping to run a ranch and also pursuing her interests in ceramics and fiber arts. Then in 1985, she suddenly decided it was time to take time to start writing.

Through another local author, Anna Grossnickle Hines, she discovered the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Through this organization, Ms. Gardella started meeting other authors and learning more about the craft of writing.

This contact with other writers also led to another book project,Writers In The Kitchen,a collection of favorite recipes by many well known children's book authors.

Ms. Gardella says," The more I learn about writing, the more I know what I don't know. I may not sit down to write at a computer every day, but I'm always writing in my head. This blends well with my other passion, fiber arts, which allows for a lot of thinking time."

Another rich source of inspiration is the addition of seven grandchildren to the Gardella family.

Ms. Gardella has a large idea file and is adding to it every week. Her storytelling focus is to share the day to day experience of living in the country and to celebrate the close relationships within the family.