Bonnie Turner—one of the few remaining members of the Greatest Generation—was born in Independence, Missouri, on Halloween at the height of the Great Depression. Currently residing in Wisconsin, she is a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother. Her many interests include astronomy, geography, history, yoga, philosophy, psychology, metaphysics, and parapsychology. She's a self-educated jack-of-all-trades, a Scorpio astrology sign, a Mensa *almost*, a classical music and jazz fusion aficionado.
She has owned two wonderful Siberian huskies—Sasha and Oniktok (Tokka)—and is currently *owned* by a feisty Tortoiseshell cat named Jazzbaby, and even though she's quite spoiled, she is loved to pieces.
Turner's favorite authors include: Mark Twain, James A. Michener, poets Robert Service and Edgar A. Guest. Some favorite books: Giants in the Earth (O.E. Rölvaag), Steamboat Gothic (Frances Parkinson Keyes), Chesapeake (Michener), the epic poem, The Odyssey of Homer, and Harvest Home (Thomas Tryon).
Turner learned to read in first grade from the famed "Dick and Jane" readers. Many years later, her first novel for children (The Haunted Igloo) was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1991. After that book was released, she visited grade schools with a life-size, handmade Inuit doll, encouraging students to keep reading and writing—and offering polar bear hugs along with her autograph.
Among her favorite fan letters are these gems:
"Mrs. Turner, I'll give you a million dollars for this book!"
"Dear Mrs. Turner, Thank you for getting me out of sixth hour!!!"
"Dear Mrs. Turner, Thank you from all the lead in my pencil!"
What great kids, those middle-grade students!
In addition to writing, Turner is a professional copyeditor, proofreader, and book formatter with more than forty years experience.
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