Ann Wilkes loves the West Coast. She grew up in the East (San Francisco) Bay and Chelan, Washington. She still feels connected to the beautiful mountains, lakes and trees of the Pacific Northwest, often going back for vacations or sci-fi conventions. Now she lives in California's wine country where she can drive to the redwoods, the beach or San Francisco in 45 minutes. Wilkes grew up on a steady diet of fantasy and science fiction and wanted nothing more than to write some of her own. She remembers relating a story for her mother to dictate when she was five or six. Most of her fiction leans toward tragic, funny or both. On Wilkes' blog, Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys, you'll find reviews, author interviews and commentary on writing and science fiction. When not writing or reading, she enjoys dancing, listening to the blues and beach bumming.