Welcome!
Grandma always said, "Life is a school." I get a kick out of writing stories for youth (of all ages) about what I've learned along life's path—mostly the hard way. Click on STORIES (from the school of life) for a laugh or two. I recently finished a memoir, THE BIPOLAR EXPRESS, a mashup of The Glass Castle and the old Roseanne TV show. And I adore writing fun picture books and middle grade stories.
So, what do you get when you throw a socially anxious kid together with his confident younger cousin (who happens to have a lucky hand)? In MY LUCKY COUSIN, hopefully a few laughs and a little understanding of our differences. How about three sisters whose parents groom them to be chess prodigies? In CHESS QUEENS, you get the scoop. What about a spunky girl who grows up to get Oregon women the vote? Hopefully some more laughs (of the girl power kind) in: SHE FORGOT HER MANNERS AND GOT THE VOTE. And what happens when you pair a once-in-a-176-year planet alignment with some brainiacs and a tech revolution? In NERD-VANA, you get the dirt.
How do I pick my protagonists? They have traits in common that fascinate me—pioneers with drive and ambition, they constantly reinvented themselves. Now that I think about it, my favorite books as a kid were Little House on the Prairie and Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars. I live in the land of liquid sunshine—aka Portland Oregon—with my high school sweetheart Mike, our son Drew, who recently graduated college (sigh, why do they have to grow up so fast?) and the ghosts of our incredible twin cats. Click on NEWS for some (not so) up to the minute news. I love reading, whether it's to a toddler on my lap or sneaking off with my book club's latest pick. Click on GOOD READS for some of my favorite children's books. Find me on Twitter: @brenda_niman, Instagram: brendaniman, and Facebook or click on CONTACT to drop me a line.
So, what do you get when you throw a socially anxious kid together with his confident younger cousin (who happens to have a lucky hand)? In MY LUCKY COUSIN, hopefully a few laughs and a little understanding of our differences. How about three sisters whose parents groom them to be chess prodigies? In CHESS QUEENS, you get the scoop. What about a spunky girl who grows up to get Oregon women the vote? Hopefully some more laughs (of the girl power kind) in: SHE FORGOT HER MANNERS AND GOT THE VOTE. And what happens when you pair a once-in-a-176-year planet alignment with some brainiacs and a tech revolution? In NERD-VANA, you get the dirt.
How do I pick my protagonists? They have traits in common that fascinate me—pioneers with drive and ambition, they constantly reinvented themselves. Now that I think about it, my favorite books as a kid were Little House on the Prairie and Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars. I live in the land of liquid sunshine—aka Portland Oregon—with my high school sweetheart Mike, our son Drew, who recently graduated college (sigh, why do they have to grow up so fast?) and the ghosts of our incredible twin cats. Click on NEWS for some (not so) up to the minute news. I love reading, whether it's to a toddler on my lap or sneaking off with my book club's latest pick. Click on GOOD READS for some of my favorite children's books. Find me on Twitter: @brenda_niman, Instagram: brendaniman, and Facebook or click on CONTACT to drop me a line.