Andrea Torrey Balsara has published books for young children up to young adults, sometimes working as a writer, sometimes as an illustrator, and sometimes as both. She is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature, and has taken at least a million art workshops, but is primarily a self-taught artist. She has an eclectic background, having worked as an American Sign Language Interpreter, as a school bus driver, and a zombie office worker. Back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth she even attended theatre school in London, England. In her presentations, Andrea adds music and theater (finally, the training paid off!) to express the joy of creativity. Andrea is a firm believer in empowering young people to think for themselves, which is reflected in each of her books and presentations. She lives in an old Victorian manor house with her husband and family, and their two dogs, two cats, and two hives of bees (the bees live outside), where she can often be found in her cold attic of a work room, pretending to be the heroine from Jane Eyre as she writes and draws with frozen fingers. Visit Andrea at www.torreybalsara.com to book presentations, and browse her publishing log.