THE BASICS:
Hi! I’m Cindy L. Rodriguez, the author of RESURRECTING EMILY, a young adult novel that is currently being read by editors (fingers crossed). I am represented by Laura Langlie. For my day job, I work as a high school reading teacher. Before becoming a teacher, I worked as a reporter for The Hartford Courant and as a researcher for The Boston Globe‘s Spotlight Team, an investigative group. I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree from Central Connecticut State University, and two teaching certifications. I live in Connecticut with my daughter and dog.
THE DETAILS:
I was born in Chicago and lived there for the first 12 years of my life. My family then moved to Connecticut, where I attended Bethel High School and graduated from Crosby High School in Waterbury. In 1993, I graduated from UConn with a degree in journalism and English. In 2007, I completed my master’s degree in English at CCSU.
While at UConn, I worked long days at The Daily Campus, the student-run newspaper. There, I met some of my best friends and fell in love with journalism. After graduating from UConn, I worked as a reporter at The Hartford Courant for a total of five years and as a researcher for The Boston Globe for two years.
In 2000, I took a leap of faith and left journalism to become a teacher. After completing the state’s Alternate Route to Certification, I was hired to teach 8th grade language arts at Portland (CT) Middle School. After three years, I left Portland and took a one-year leave from teaching to work on my master’s degree full-time.
After my year of graduate work, I returned to teaching. I was hired by the West Hartford school district to teach 7th grade language arts at King Philip Middle School.
Six years later, and after earning a second certification through another alternate route program run by Albertus Magnus College, I moved to Hall High School to be the reading teacher/specialist.
RESURRECTING EMILY is my first novel.
