Donna June CooperThe granddaughter of a coal miner and the great-great-granddaughter of one of the Muscogee people, Donna was raised in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains, in the beautiful hills of East Tennessee. She was lured away from her mountains by an admittedly gorgeous Italian guy, who married her and carried her off to very flat (they call hills mountains down here) and very hot (no seriously, people bake cookies in their cars) Texas. Donna has made her living doing a little bit of everything, including a stint as an IRS tax auditor, a few years managing bookstores, and a long career writing and managing writers in the corporate world.*** Besides writing, and all the wonderful things that go with it, Donna enjoys being walked by her Chihuahua, doing yoga, and reading - LOTS of reading. And you can certainly see the influence of the science fiction books on her keeper shelf - Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Anne McCaffrey, Lois McMaster Bujold, Ray Bradbury, and so many others - on her books. But the ancient and magical and beautiful mountains that surrounded her childhood are probably the biggest influence on the Books of the Kindling. Read More Read Less