Jennifer has been writing stories since she was in preschool, when she delighted in crafting tales of magic and adventure; she wrote and illustrated them with her 64-box of Crayolas, stapled the pages together, and waited for fame and riches to come calling. (They did not.) When her parents insisted that she pursue a career more secure than fiction writing, she decided to be a musician instead.

This was not what her parents had in mind when they said “more secure,” but they were wonderfully supportive nonetheless.

Jennifer holds degrees in piano, choral conducting, and theology. She is on the music faculty at Loyola University in Chicago and serves as an assistant conductor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Jennifer has worked as church musician, educator, composer, clinician, and editor for various organizations. Writing still found its way into her musical world: she is a prolific composer of choral music, and her compositions, as well as her nonfiction books and articles, are available through several major publishers.

She lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband, two wiener dogs, and a daughter who is getting ready to leave for college next year; her son is already away at school. Demonstrating once again the cliché about apples and trees, her son is a music major, and her daughter plans to be a writer.