The Mad Queen of Portugal Maria I
The first woman to rule Portugal, Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana (why'd her parents stop there?) married her uncle in order to [...]
Projeto Tamar: Saving Sea Turtles along Brazil’s Coast
Hello, adorable baby sea turtle! Today is world turtle day! Hooray for the turtles! In honor of turtles everywhere, I wanted to give [...]
King João VI of Portugal: Feared Crustaceans, Tricked Napoleon, & Lost Brazil
One reason I love writing historical fiction is the chance to discover real people I'd swear were fabricated in someone's imagination. King João VI of [...]
O Gênio do Crime: A Brazilian Middle Grade Classic
I recently asked my husband what his favorite books were as a kid and without hesitation he said "O Gênio do Crime." He couldn't remember [...]
A Random Street in Rabat
This is a flashback to my first published essay! It appeared in 2007 in the now defunct digital magazine Glimpse, a National Geographic Imprint. It's [...]
My Most Brutal Agent Critique & What It Taught Me About Diverse Stories
It happened. I finally got the brutal agent response I will talk about twenty years from now at book signings. I'm a real writer now. [...]
5 Amazing Brazilian Children’s Authors
When I first began shopping for children's books in Brazil, I had a hard time finding books by Brazilians. It was crazy. I was in [...]
Dengue, Zika, Chikungunya, & Yellow Fever
This is public enemy #1!Aedes aegypti. Know it and squish it! There are over 3,000 species of mosquitoes. A fact I think proves [...]
Getting Our Yellow Fever Vaccines
This is public enemy #1! Aedes aegypti. It carries dengue, zika, & chikungunya. Mosquito born viruses did not cross my mind when considering [...]