Erica Verrillo

My daughter fell ill when she was eight, and for nearly two years she was unable to attend school. I spent a great deal of that time entertaining her with stories about an intrepid young girl named Elissa, who could talk with animals. Many years later she asked me to write those stories down. (I did, because I do everything my daughter says.) Once I had written them down, she told me to get them published.

A few years later, Random House published those stories as a trilogy, Elissa's Quest, Elissa's Odyssey and World's End. I discovered I liked writing, so I have kept at it ever since.

My current project is a fantasy about a girl who falls in love with Fire, jumps into a volcano, and emerges unscathed to battle Alexander the Great's Army. (My son has told me to publish it. I do everything he says as well.)