Thanks for stopping by my website. My name is Debbie Gonzales, a lover of children, books, writing, and education. I am an author/educator who cares deeply for kids and their connection to the craft of writing.
I've been a teacher, a school administrator, an educational consultant, a curriculum designer, and a writing workshop instructor with an amazing Austin organization called Badgerdog Literary Publishing. I've even taught PBS's Barney kids in a one-room off-set Montessori classroom. I've earned my MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Art in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I am currently serving as the Regional Advisor for the vibrant Austin SCBWI Chapter.
New Zealand's Giltedge Publishing has published several of my early-readers. Currently I am working as a curriculum coordinator for Giltedge correlating their amazing products with American academic standards.
I've written several middle-grade novels. One is Alien All-Stars, a story about a boy's angst between his loyalty to his bullying best friend or the tenacious girl next door. (We'll blog about sports novels at length in this website. I wrote my thesis about those dandies and have much to say about them. I hope you do, too.) My current projects are historical fiction pieces set in the Pacific Northwest. Bear Mountain is a story about a young girl who, like her father, has the intuitive ability to heal horses. In Whistle Punk, a boy has journeyed to a rugged 1930's logging camp to learn about the secrets surrounding his father's mysterious and untimely death.
I also own a small business named DJ Operations and Services which is a unique solutions provider specializing in educational and training services and products. DJ Ops incorporates the passion for books, children, and writing with a solid track record in personal, professional, and academic excellence. As a freelance writer, I design Book Discussion Guides, Reading Group Guides, and Teacher Guides samples of which are posted on my website.
Round Rock, Texas is my home, just 20 miles north of Austin, where I live with my two favorite dogs, beloved husband John and three-legged chocolate Lab, Tripod. Both of my grown-up kids and two grandchildren live nearby, which makes me very, very happy.
