At 22, I graduated from Stanford University and moved up to San Francisco. I freelanced as a copywriter for an ad agency and peddled my cartoons to the San Francisco Chronicle. The editor was kind, and she published them every few weeks in their Sunday book review/opinion section. This got me motivated to send the strip off to syndicates, and in 1995, at the tender age of 25, I started Rhymes With Orange.

In 1998, I packed up and drove home to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I love Massachusetts.

I now draw the strip in what was once an old toothbrush factory, now converted to office space for artists and small businesses.

One of my goals in the strip is to inspire more young women to join the field. My early inspirations were Dr. Seuss for the rhymes, Shel Silverstein for the clever word play and black-and-white illustrations, and The New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast, Sam Gross and George Booth. I’d like to think like Roz Chast, draw like George Booth, and have the chutzpah of Sam Gross.

Greeting card artist Sandra Boynton was also a major influence. Her work was huge when I was in the eighth grade, and it was a defining moment for me when I learned that Boynton’s first name was Sandra. Up to that point I had assumed she was a he. The fact that a “she” was doing funny drawings opened up the possibility that I could, too. I encourage all female artists, young or old, to not hide behind their initials, but to sign their full name on their work. Whether or not you realize it, it can be a powerful and inspiring statement. (One of the best things that has happened as a result of being a cartoonist is that I have had the opportunity to meet Sandra Boynton. She is every bit as cool and funny as you would imagine!)

My first actual cartoon character was a friendly monster that looked a little like a sitting-down hippopotamus. I used my mother’s blusher from her cosmetic’s bag to “paint” it. That’s probably that last time I have touched a cosmetics bag for any purpose.

Rhymes With Orange appears in 150 newspapers nationwide, and has made cameos in People magazine, Forbes, Glamour, and The Funny Times. If you love cartoons panels and editorial cartoons, subscribe to the Funny Times.