sentences:  She also looked to her father's stories about the Philippines (a technician in a nearby sweat shop) for the inspiration she would later use in her novel "When the Elephants Dance".Tess holds a degree in accounting from Golden Gate University.Although she was raised to obtain a practical career, (which was either being a lawyer, doctor or an accountant) in her last year of college she enrolled in a writing class, only to find out she had a talent for writing.