1. She was born in Michigan but grew up in Wisconsin.
2. She attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music as a piano performance major.
3. Her health began to fail after 2 years at the conservatory and she was misdiagnosed with MS; she was bedridden until 1987 but then began using a wheelchair to get around as her health improved (cause of problems still unknown).
4. She earned her MFA from Cornell.
5. She held a lectureship at Cornell for 2 years after graduating.
6. Her first novel, Vinegar Hill, was published in 1994 and was later chosen for Oprah's Book Club in 1999.
7. She was a professor at Vanderbilt for 4 years.
8. While teaching at Vanderbilt, she published 2 books: a story collection called Read This and Tell Me What It Says, and her second novel, Sister.
9. She published a memoir, Limbo, in 2001.
10. Her seventh book, Blue Water, is a novel that draws on her experiences living aboard a sailboat.
11. She is currently a professor at the University of Miami.
12. Her latest book is called Good Things I Wish You.
Have you read any of her books?
