Almost ten years ago, I gained a fascination with marionettes. I loved the way a single lift of my fingers on the string could almost create life. I was lucky enough to have a mentor for all things puppetry, Sue Zimmerman. Her garage looked out on the front entrance of Stevenson Elementary. Together, we created shows to line up with their events. Sue’s garage transformed into a magical portal to a miniature world, drawing a steady trickle of parents and children that grew as word spread. After shows, parents would come up with their child trailing behind, a curious expression on their face, hoping to see what hid behind the decorated stage and the magical puppets. “Can my kid join?” the parents would say, and soon enough, we had founded a troop of apprentices that we called the Zuppeteers.

As the director of our troop, I choreographed the shows, but perhaps more importantly, I took care of the kids. I made sure they were learning responsibility and discipline, skills they would take with them throughout their adult lives, but also ensured they could take this time on the weekends to get away from the stressors of school (and sometimes home life) to enjoy themselves and grow as people. The Zuppeteers continued to expand, adding new recruits and performing at community events and festivals until we became a well-known figure in the world of puppetry. We have performed with the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, and for the Annual Skirball Puppet Festival.

I taught myself to read when I was less than 3 years old, and since then, I've devoured every book I've gotten my hands on. I have always seen books as more than just a story, but a portal to a new world where I can be the main characters, and do the amazing things they can. People always say the best writer is a good reader, and when I started writing stories, they flowed out of me like water from a rain cloud. Some days it was more dry, sure, but every now and then I'd get a downpour of creativity. Recently, I finished my first big project: a short novella of 15,000 words titled 'Memories', and immediately I've gotten ideas for at least three new stories! As you can see, reading and writing are very important to me, and have shaped who I am as a person.