Marie Romero Cash was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to a family that would eventually number seven children, and has lived there most of her life. After graduating from Santa Fe High School, she took a job as a legal secretary, a field that would provide a lifetime of employment. But then, in her mid-thirties, she discovered the traditional arts of northern New Mexico. After twenty years of creating award-winning art, she began to write about it, but decided she needed a higher education to do so. At fifty she enrolled in college and, five years later, graduated with a degree in Southwest Studies. In 1998, she received the prestigious Javits Fellowship to pursue her education. Since then Marie has written several books about the art and culture of the southwest, including a memoir about growing up in Santa Fe. This novel, her first mystery, is based on the ranch where she spent a lot of time during her marriage to a cowboy. "Don't get me wrong," she says, "I'm the last person you would ever picture on a ranch. The alligator boots I purchased in 1987 still look like new!" You can find Marie on the Web at MarieRomeroCash.camelpress.com.