Claire GebbenClaire Gebben was born and raised on the southeast side of Cleveland in Moreland Hills, Ohio. She penciled her first novel at age ten, 101 pages on blue-lined notebook paper. She is of German and Scottish descent, but notes that the German side of th family were more meticulous record-keepers. A fan of the outdoors, she took both summer and winter mountaineering expeditions through the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming. In 1980 Ms. Gebben earned a BA in Psychology from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Shortly thereafter, she traveled through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia for several months on an extended honeymoon. Returning to the U.S., she and her husband moved seven times in seven years, living in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Cleveland, and Buffalo before landing in Seattle, Washington. Ms. Gebben's hobbies include skiing, dance, hiking, photography, singing, and travel. She has worked as a resource center manager, newspaper columnist, newsletter editor, ghostwriter, in desktop publishing, multi-media, and communications, all the while raising a family and pursuing her love of reading and writing. In 2011, she earned an MFA in Creative Writing through the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts on Whidbey Island, Washington. Ms. Gebben's stories, essays, and articles have appeared in Soundings Review, The Speculative Edge, The Fine Line, Shark Reef and other publications. She teaches a class on Writing Family History at her local Community Center, and is the archivist of her 160-year-old Methodist Church. On a 2010 research visit to Germany, Ms. Gebben was featured in the local newspaper Die Rheinpfalz harvesting grapes in the Freinsheim community vineyard of her ancestors. Ms. Gebben serves on the board of the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, the Whidbey Island MFA Alumni Association, and the professional writers organization Seattle Freelances. In 2013, she served as fiction editor of Soundings Review literary magazine. Ms. Gebben is married, has two adult children, and lives on Mercer Island, Washington. The Last of the Blacksmiths is her first novel.You can find Claire on the Web at www.clairegebben.com. Read More Read Less