Charlene McDonnough was born and raised in the small town of Moriarty, New Mexico on a farm with her 5 siblings and a wide variety of animals, which started her love of nature. She served on active duty in the Air Force for 15 years, serving in a number places all over the world. Charlene earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and taught school for three years, she then went on to get her Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science. She has been working in public libraries ever since. Charlene has two grown sons. She lives in South Carolina with her husband and two cats named Henry and Bella.
Charlene has been crafty her whole life. She started exploring her artist side in 2012. She began drawing ZIA art which is Zen-tangle Inspired Art for family and friends. After about the 10th person told her that she should be illustrating children’s books, she took them seriously and decided to write and illustrate a book of her own. The illustrations for her first book Gemma the Sweater Loving Giraffe took her six months to complete. When she was finished with that book a second one was put in the mix. Gemma the Sweater Loving Giraffe – World Traveler will be released in late November. There are plans for a third book as well.