Shirley J DickardA fourth generation Californian, Shirley has always been passionate about living close to the land and protecting the earth. Her first novel, Heart Wood, was written from her homestead that she and her husband built in the 1970s in the Sierra Nevada,Northern California. Shirley earned her RN degree from the University of California, San Francisco. She draws on her background as a pediatric nurse, and as former executive director of a rural non-profit where she promoted community-building as a means of improving children's health. She served as co-producer of The Women's Writing Salon and is a founding member of the Sierra Muses Writing Workshop and Press in Nevada City. Shirley is the senior editor of a community newspaper, serves as the family's historian, and is an avid naturalist. When she is not writing, Shirley is walking in the woods with her husband and dog, spending time with their two daughters' families, volunteering in the community, and tending their large homestead garden and orchard. Website: www.shirleydickard.com Read More Read Less