I grew up in a book-loving family and was taught that my most important goal in life was to fulfill my God-given purpose. When I was ten, my dad, Dave Hunt, quit his career in business to become a writer. As a result, I had more than my fair share of adventures as we traveled the world in a powder blue VW van, searching for inspiration for his books.

     Here are some of my adventures in a nutshell:

     I rode an Arabian horse across the deserts of Egypt, climbed the Great Pyramid and sailed down the Nile to the Valley of the Kings.

     I got lost on the wild moors of Scotland, slept in tent cabins in Russia and swam in the Black Sea.

     I drank the most delicious mint tea with a rug merchant in Marrakesh and petted reindeer on the northernmost tip of Norway.

     Escaping out of Syria into Turkey just hours before the borders closed, due to the 6 Day War, I celebrated my 11th birthday in Ankara.

     "Smuggling” Bibles into Romania and Russia, my parents prayed at each border crossing that God would blind the eyes of the guards—and he did! It’s an absolute fact that the guards opened every other suitcase and checked every inch of the car, inside and out—once even checking inside the tires with a special device and tearing the lining out of my mom’s purse—but  never did they open the big brown suitcase containing the Bibles.

     The best adventure of all was living in a real 17th century castle in Switzerland, complete with turrets and towers, winding staircases and a dungeon. I attended the village school and was terrorized by my teacher, Madame Petriquin, a ferocious old lady who rode a bike to school and wore big black boots every day. Her favorite forms of discipline were shin kicks and ear-twists. After school my sister, brothers and I were chased home through the winding cobbled streets by some of the rougher village children who were convinced that we came from the “Wild West” and so they wanted to fight us. We became fierce sprinters and experts at jumping over the lowest part of the castle wall to safety. Peeking over the top of the wall, we made faces back at them, as they dared not enter the castle grounds. In the biggest castle tower lived its owner, the ancient and mysterious Madame Franco…but more on her later.

     All of these amazing adventures inspired my over-active imagination and I spent hours sprawled on the floor in my room, drawing pictures and writing stories. When I grew up I fulfilled my God-given purpose and started writing and illustrating children’s books. I lived for eight years between London and a little village in Slovenia and illustrated four of the first multi-cultural books ever published in Great Britain. Eventually, I moved back to Los Angeles and published fourteen more children’s books.

      About thirteen years ago, I developed a creative writing program in public schools called WORDPOWER. In 1995, I took my program into Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles and started teaching a group of girls who were all High Risk Offenders, being tried for serious crimes and facing life sentences. I had never sat down face to face with tough, gang kids and was impressed at the depth and honesty of their writing. Other wonderful writers soon followed, from award-winning journalists, screenwriters and authors, to young writers just out of college, to school teachers. In 1999, we formed InsideOUT Writers, a creative writing program for incarcerated and at-risk youth. From then until 2006, I was honored to be its President.

     In 2006 I stepped down as President of InsideOUT Writers. It was time to return to my writing and to conducting the WORDPOWER program in schools.

     I’m the proud mother of three incredible children, Katya, Harrison and Max—my greatest inspirations. Katya is at UCLA Law School, Harrison is in High School and wants to be a writer, Max is in Middle School and wants to be an actor. Life is exciting!

     An important part of my life’s journey has been training in martial arts, boxing and kick-boxing. Besides holding a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, I love nothing more than a good fight in the ring, whether it be with boxing gloves, Eskrima sticks and knives, or a samurai sword.

     Below is some more biographical information:


Print articles featuring Ms. Hunt’s work:

Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly magazine, the Writers’ Guild magazine, and more.
Television interviews and documentaries:
Seeds of Peace, NBC
Gangsta Girlz, A&E
Oxygen Media, Pure Oxygen
Awards:
Child Welfare League of America’s 2002 National Award for Excellence in Community Collaboration for Children, Youth & Families
Athena Award, sponsored by ELLE magazine and given to an inspiring entrepreneurial businesswoman,
2003 Soroptimists Woman of Distinction Award
LA County Probation Department Dedicated Services Award
Distinguished Community Award from the Tarzana Encino Medical Center