About

People often ask how to pronounce my last name. It’s pronounced with an ahh sound. If you go to northeast Spain/Catalonia, you may hear the name Pla, because it’s quite common there. It means a flat, level area, as in a plaza or plateau.

I’ve thought of myself as a writer since I was in second grade at Mill Hill School in Southport, Connecticut, and my teacher said nice things and encouraged me. Really special teachers can change your whole life for the better.

I’ve grown and changed and I’ve done lots of different things. And I’ve lived in lots of different places — New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California, and Caracas, Venezuela, along with spending a lot of time in France, where my husband is from. I’ve found many things to love in every single one of those places. Right now, I split my time between California and New York.

And I love dogs! Here’s me as a kid with my dog Lucky:

Here’s me as a teenager, with Lucky:

Here’s Casey, who was with us when my 3 boys were small:

Here’s Leo, a giant golden-doodle who was my very best friend for 12 wonderful years. He was like a person in a dog-suit. I wish you could have known him.

I know what it feels like to be a little bit different, a little off, unsure, and unusual, in a world that can be very straight and narrow-thinking about what it calls ‘normal.’ And I know what it’s like to feel scared of pretty much everything. And to choose not to speak.

I didn’t know it when I was a kid, but as a grown-up, I learned there was a reason for my struggles: autism! For me, it means I have a harder time dealing with sensory stuff – the too-muchness of the world. But I’ve learned a lot of skills along the way, and I manage quite well now.

Here’s a photo of me from the days when I was called “too sensitive,” “too shy,” “too silent.” I was very fearful and bewildered by everything! I mainly liked to spend time alone in the quiet of nature. I loved the outdoors. I felt a lot of self-doubt and fear as a child. Sometimes, I still do. But that’s also just part and parcel of being human, right?

I think most of my writing, so far, is about learning to push past fear. About learning to feel more at ease in the world. Learning that things – learning that YOU – can change – and can get better, all the time. That there is more power and ability inside your special self than you might realize. And it will come out, all in good time.

I hope my books will make you laugh, and also feel little heart-pangs of recognition about everything we have in common, being, you know, human and all.

Here’s Leo, again, with one last word:

Well, that’s it, about me. Now maybe you will write me sometime, and tell me a little about you!