Sue Gilliam

A "Jacque of all trades and a mistress of none" is how Sue Gilliam describes herself. Born and raised in a small town in Iowa, she attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa with the intention of pursuing a career in early childhood education. Somewhere along the way her life took a detour and Sue decided, "I didn't want to spend my life in school, even if it was on the other side of the desk."

In a radical career change, Sue trained as a dispensing optician and worked in the field of optics for eighteen years in Iowa and Arizona.

In 1994 she returned to her education roots and took a job as Director of Christian Education for her church in Lake Havasu. During her work as a Christian educator, Sue spent a great deal of time telling stories. Whenever she needed a story to teach a concept to the young people in her church she would just craft one from her own imagination. She discovered God had blessed her with a gift for spinning a yam and a curse for writing in verse.

After eight years with her church, Sue decided to give writing full-time a try. She now spends her days creating stories and drawing illustrations for the children at her neighborhood Head Start preschool. Wednesdays, Sue can be found reading to her four year old fan club there.

Sue and her husband, Richard have lived in Lake Havasu since 1985 and have one son, one daughter, one grandbaby, and a cocker spaniel/ traveling salesman-mix pound puppy. Sue and Richard own a hobby store in Havasu.

Sue's children's stories and poetry have been published in Wee Ones Magazine and Dragonfly Spirit. Her book review columns appeared monthly in The Blue Review, an ezine for children's writers. Two of her Christmas stories are scheduled for release in an anthology by Uplight Books in  the fall of 2007. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

7/18/07