Carolee Dean was born in Bellflower, California. At the
age of 15 she moved with her family to Lubbock, Texas
where her father attended preaching school. Just before
her senior year her father took a preaching job in
Happy, Texas (population 600) and the family relocated
there.
While a senior at Happy High School, Dean’s journalism
teacher encouraged her to participate in the University
Interscholastic League (UIL) Competitions. Like Kenny
in
Comfort,
Dean was a state alternate in the area of poetry
interpretation. Because of her involvement with the UIL,
Dean was awarded a college scholarship and received a
bachelor’s degree in music therapy from West Texas State
University in Canyon, Texas. She later received her
Master of Science Degree in Communicative Disorders from
the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Dean has worked with children, adolescents, and adults
in a variety of settings including a head trauma
rehabilitation hospital, a psychiatric hospital, and the
public schools. While working with the public schools
she participated in the Wrinkle Writing Project (a
collaboration between local schools and the University
of New Mexico Theatre Department.) The project focuses
on using creative drama to encourage students to write.
Dean is a speech-language pathologist who currently
lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her husband and
three children. She started writing at the age of
twelve when she began playing the guitar and composing
songs. In addition to novels and songs, Dean enjoys
writing poetry, plays, screenplays, and non-fiction
educational material. Dean offers a variety of
presentations for both teachers and students and is
available for school visits and educational workshops.
Comfort
is her first novel.
