Catherine Nichols

The first time I watched Peter Pan fly across my TV screen, I was hooked. I, too, never wanted to grow up into a boring adult. At night I left my window unlatched, in case Peter should happen to drop by. I was more than willing to go with him to Neverland and battle the pirates. To be ready I practiced flying by jumping off beds and sofas, but I never became airborne. Well, you wouldn't, not without fairy dust.

Peter Pan was a no-show at my family's A-frame house in Queens, NY. So I had no choice but to grow up. But part of me never forgot him. Soon after graduating from college, I started my first real job working as a proofreader. I read sheet after sheet of dense type filled with business jargon. Boring! When I got a chance to work in children's publishing, I jumped. Before long I was not only editing children's books, I was writing them as well.

As a children's writer I get to research and write about all kinds of interesting things. I've written about bizarre bugs, animal masterminds, baseball stars, and Arctic explorers. I've written scary stories about ghosts and funny stories about animals. Typing on the keyboard, the walls of my office fall away to become Neverland where anything can happen. And all without fairy dust!