Born in Wyoming, I grew up in the West and earned degrees in philosophy and English from Colorado State University. Then I spent twenty years in the Pacific Northwest where my Home Crafting Mysteries are set. Shotgun Moon, set in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, is my first contemporary western mystery, written as K.C. McRae. I also write the Magical Bakery Mysteries as Bailey Cates.I've always had a fascination with the crafts that were once necessary for pioneers and colonial Americans to survive. Though admittedly seduced by the chemistry of soap making, the idea of stocking the winter larder with garden produce, and fiber crafts like spinning and knitting that can nourish the soul as well as keep a body warm, I try not to romanticize these skills so much as encourage the ongoing practice and preservation of them. As a girl I was as much a fan of Nancy Drew as of Laura Ingalls Wilder, so it's no surprise that my contemporary cozy series features a soap maker with a nose for investigation.For two years I managed my own soap making business, including product design, manufacturing and marketing. I've worked at a variety of other jobs, ranging from driver's license examiner to program manager at Microsoft. This fulfills my mother's warning that I'd never have a "regular" job if I insisted on studying liberal arts in college.Now I live in Colorado with my guy and two cats where I write a couple of mystery series with a standalone thrown in here and there. For more information please visit www.cricketmcrae.com