I met my husband in the Israeli desert about 100 feet from the West Bank. We slept in an army tent and woke before dawn to the sound of Dean Martin singing That's Amore. We dug an ancient settlement and, most days, ate as much dirt as lunch. The Bedouin herded their goats through our camp every afternoon.

Before then I was mostly a student; since then I have become wife, mother, architect, gardener, cook, and a thousand other things, depending on the time of day. I have always been a writer.

Emerson and Quig (that has always been their names, though Will was named Henry for a very long time) popped into my head on an el ride as the backstory for a children's clothing store I'd always wanted to open. Originally, they were much younger and lived around 1910. They travelled to exotic lands with their archaeologist parents and had grand adventures.

Some things have changed, some haven't. I hope you enjoy their adventures as much as I enjoy coming up with them.