Janet Tashjian is the author of five novels for young readers, including True Confessions, a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age; Fault Line, a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age; and The Gospel According to Larry: an ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults, a Booklist Editor’s Choice, and a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age. The following is a short biography written by Ms. Tashjian herself:

“I write almost every day. If I don't, the words start backing up inside me and it gets ugly fast. My mind pretty much never stops -- I have more ideas than time to write them in. Nothing makes me happier than coming up with characters and story lines for a new project. My family and friends very graciously put up with my barrage of new ideas.

A bio is incredibly difficult to write. On the one hand, I can discuss the facts of my life: where I grew up, where I went to school. But those statistics don't even dent the true things that have influenced and shaped my life: the middle-of-the-night conversations, the spontaneous road trips, watching my son climb a tree . . . It's like getting to know a character in a novel: would you rather know where he graduated from college or watch him eat an artichoke at a dinner party?

That being said, I grew up in East Providence , Rhode Island . My father was a sales engineer, my mother a homemaker. I'm the oldest of four with two sisters and a brother. I always liked to keep busy, working on several projects at once. I wrote a little, but never thought of becoming a writer.

I've always been an avid reader; I still read several books a week. When I was young, it was mostly mysteries: Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown. As I got older, my taste got more eclectic: Carlos Castenada, Kurt Vonnegut, Hermann Hesse, Anthony Burgess. I still love where your mind goes with a good book; it's the cheapest form of travel there is.

I attended the University of Rhode Island and majored in Journalism. When I graduated, I opted for the money and I went into a career in sales and marketing. I worked in high-tech, made a lot of great friends, but my heart wasn't in it. I quit one job and traveled around the world with my soon-to-be husband, Doug.

Many people talk about the books that changed their lives. One that truly changed mine was The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. It was written with such simplicity and grace that when I finished it, I told my husband I was quitting my job to become a writer. I bought myself a box of pens, a stack of notebooks, and started writing. I enrolled in the M.F.A. program at Emerson College where I was lucky enough to train with some amazing writers: National Book Award winner James Carroll was my thesis chair. Jack Gantos (Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, Rotten Ralph) was teaching a course entitled Writing Novels for Children. He seemed like a pretty cool guy so I signed up. I think it's life's coincidences and accidents that often shape who you are. I'd never planned to write books for kids, but it turns out it's something I love to do.

For me, being a novelist is it. I am humbled and grateful every day that this is how I make my living.

What else to tell? I love the beach, love nature, hate people who talk on cell phones in public places. Hate pulling ticks off dogs, couldn't live a day without music, love to brainstorm ideas with my writer friends. Love to go to concerts, love to chase my son around the house and kiss him, love to refinish and paint old furniture. I hate it when people waste water or aren't passionate about life (especially at the same time).

And no, you'd never catch me trying to eat an artichoke at a dinner party . . . I'm way too uncoordinated for that.”

For more information, please visit www.janettashjian.com.

Janet Tashjian will appear on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2 pm, in the Salt Lake City Main Library, 2nd Floor Canteena.