Ellie DeFarr

I have always loved books. My earliest memories are of snuggling against my mother while she read aloud all the Little Golden Books. Every Saturday I’d leave the library with my arms full of the Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys. As I grew older, my reading tastes expanded to include fantasies, biographies, political science books, and any well-written and well-crafted literary novel. Today, I still go through two to three books a week on my e-reader.

I grew up in the surrounds of Pittsburgh, PA, playing in the forested foothills and wading through the streams that flow between them. After high school I attended the University of Michigan, where I earned a Masters Degree in a scientific field so far removed from creative writing that it’s mind boggling. I then entered the demanding and fast-paced world of leading-edge technology. But this inauspicious start did not deter me from my love of the written word.

In my own writing I like lead characters that are strong and resourceful women with ties to society’s fringes, allowing me to explore complex friendships and loyalties, the character’s principles, and her sense of justice. My stories are populated with thieves, cat burglars, women of the night, and social dropouts. But each one possesses kindness and compassion and a sense of obligation toward others. And each follows a strong moral code, even if that code isn’t typical of society as a whole.

My stories always include animals, since I am devoted to the fauna of our world. I feature animals in their natural settings when the tale’s continuity allows, enriching the story’s context with realism and texture. And no book should be without warmth and humor. My hope is that each of my books will provide an escape from the stress and disappointments of life for whatever hours a reader chooses to spend with it.