Padgett GerlerPadgett Gerler grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, where she loved small-town life, created lasting friendships, and swam in the icy, mountain-stream- fed Jackson River. Leaving the mountains for college, she graduated from North Carolia State University with an accounting degree. After earning her CPA certificate, she practiced accounting until, in 2010, she left her career to pursue fiction writing. Read More Read Less