Anne Gillespie Lewis was born in 1944 on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Mary's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, of a mixed marriage (her mom was Scandinavian and Lutheran and her dad was an Irish Catholic) She began to write when she joined the staff of the University of Minnesota's daily newspaper, coincidentally called the Minnesota Daily. After gaining a degree in journalism, she worked as a sports writer for the Minneapolis Star, before it was gobbled up by the Minneapolis Tribune and has for many years worked as a freelancer for newspapers, magazines and whoever else would pay her! To prepare for graduate school in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Minnesota she spent a month working on an eight-cow daily farm waaaay up in northern Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle. There she met her husband, who was not Norwegian but an Englishman far from home. They fell in love, were married in January of 1972 when it was 15 below zero in Minneapolis and have lived (mostly) happily ever after. Anne has now written eight books and is eyeing two or three more. A Perfect Tree for Christmas is her first work of fiction. Although aimed at children, her publisher keeps warning her: Don't say it's just for children, because adults will love it too! (in photo, Anne Gillespie Lewis, right, with Inger Pignolet in Grand Portage, Minnesota) This little book was a finalist in the 2014 Midwest Independent Publishers Association's book awards.