Hello. My name is Nilah. And I like to rock.

Well actually, rock's too strong of a word. But I do like to enjoy myself.

I'm from Maryland, born and raised right between Annapolis and Baltimore. As a kid, I watched a lot of cartoons. Maybe too many cartoons. Definitely too much David the Gnome. I never quite understood the concept that people belong in the house and animals belong outside. Luckily my mom was pretty tolerant, and once even caught a spider for me. That's good parenting right there.

I was going to be a veterinarian. Then I was going to be a musician. Then I was going to be a writer. Then I was going to be a gardener, or an angler - and I was both of those, for a while.

Then I saw some pencil tests for The Lion King. And I knew I was going to be an animator.

But I wasn't sure how to become an animator. So I graduated high school, and then I did become a writer for a while. I studied public relations and journalism in Frederick, MD. I freelanced for The Gazette under the best Arts and Entertainment editor ever. Then I did a bit of marketing in the health sector in Virginia.

After a while, I figured it was time to give that animation thing another go. So off to Ringling College I went.

Mostly, I just like telling stories. I read a lot of fantasy and young adult fiction (Philip Reeve, Jack London, Delia Sherman, Lisa Mantchev, Erin Hunter, Richard Adams, and Scott Westerfeld are just a few favs). I dabble in writing fiction, and I hope to get published one day. I'd also like to publish a comic. But most of all, I love movies.

What else would you like to know?