M RaiyaM. Raiya knew she was a writer since second grade when her teacher kept her in for recess because "Somebody had better teach you about semicolons!" She started her first fantasy trilogy in fifth grade. She majored in writing in college, got her maste's degree in English, published some literary fiction, and fortunately emerged from all that with her imagination unscathed. She is a native Vermonter and often needs four-wheel drive to reach her home on a dirt road in the mountains. Her other passions are birdwatching, nature photography, and swimming. When she's not writing, she takes long walks with a big lens and a pair of binoculars, often standing motionless for hours waiting for the right lighting for the perfect shot, or climbing into places not meant to be climbed into for the right angle. Or she might be found in the nearby lake in the summer or a handy swimming pool in the winter, since she will turn into a mermaid if she doesn't submerge at least once a day. She is married and has two almost grown daughters, two cats who demand that they lie between her and her computer whenever she dares to sit down, and a day job working with high school kids with special needs who frequently tell her that she is completely crazy, which she's always known and definitely would not want to change. Blog: mraiya.blogspot.com E-mail: m.raiya@comcast.net Read More Read Less