Julie Israel did a lot of telling stories before she ever figured out how to write them: around the campfire, in grade school parodies, at meals where she had to account for the peas that mysteriously vanished from her plate, but did not end up in her stomach.She didn't try writing a book until high school, and didn't finish one until after she had graduated college, taught English in Japan, tutored, written freelance, begun volunteering, and completed her first secret mission as a spy. Okay, she was never a spy. She's still telling tales. It's one of her favourite things to do from her native Portland, Oregon, where she really does enjoy making art, learning, and sometimes vegetables.