B. A. Binns

I'm a big city girl, I grew up on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, as the the eldest of five children and still live in the Chicago suburbs. After my parents divorced I assumed the role of chief parental assistant in charge of taking care of anyone younger than me. By the time I went to college, I was strictly management material. And oh so thankful for the freedom.

All this laid the groundwork for my future as a YA writer.

I'm a compulsive joiner, and I belong to the Romance Writer's of America and the Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators. I also belong to Write It Now (WIN) a writer's group that meets in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and The Writing Place, an Arlington Heights writing group, as well as several on-line groups. I've done NaNoWriMo since 2007 (won every year, thank you very much). In fact, PULL started as a NaNo type writing effort.

Over the years I've worked everything from fast food to clinical chemistry to dietician to computer architect. But I always found excuses to return to school. I've attended the University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University, Depaul University, Roosevelt University, and Chicago State University. (Can you say professional student?) Even now you may find me haunting the halls at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois.

I'm on facebook. I blog - sporadically. And I diet all the time.

I've been writing for four years, and I am agented by the wonderful Andrea Somberg from the Harvey Klinger agency. PULL was born during the 2009 AWP (Association of Writing Professionals) conference, when I attended a session called "Why Jose Won't Read" and the need to write a book that boys would be drawn to was born. That book is PULL, the story of David Albacore who fights the pull of the world of childhood and the need to live the dreams his dead mother made for him, and the world of adulthood and construction that he feels he is born to live. He's also pulled by Yolanda Dare, a girl on the edge, suffering from a secret shame that endangers her and David's younger sister.

I hope I've created soemthing that will be enjoyed by all ages and genders.