Whitney-Author PicWhitney was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. She’s gone through life with a constantly running film of various made-up stories going through her head at all times, and, about ten years ago, she decided maybe she should do something with them. Now, seven books later, she’s written mostly historical YA and dabbles in YA contemporary fantasy, but her first love is anything and everything set in the 1960s. After discovering The Beatles at fourteen, she draws on her love of ’60s music and culture to inspire many of her books. In fact, she’s forced her family into vacationing in Woodstock, New York, twice! Although, “forced” is really an unfair word…Woodstock is beautiful, and they had a great time. She also writes biracial protagonists based on her own experiences growing up in an interracial family as the daughter of a white mother and black father.

She’s an avid fan of classic films and enjoys watching football and spending time outdoors. She graduated from Otterbein College, a small, liberal arts school, majoring in business and minoring in music, then, after a brief stint in insurance sales, went back to school to get her teaching license and master’s in education. She teaches literacy to sixth-grade students in a wonderfully diverse school, so she gets to spend most of her time talking about books and writing.

FOLLOW THE SUN, her fifth book and the book of her heart, is inspired by her experiences with her daughter, who has Rett syndrome. Rett syndrome is a fairly rare neurological disorder impacting mostly girls. Its symptoms include difficulties with or the inability to walk, talk, use hands, breathe, swallow, and it often causes seizures.

She lives in Columbus with her husband, Josh, their daughter, and their dog, Remus.


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