Nicki Chen was born in Sedro-Woolley, WA, in 1943. While studying at Seattle University, she met her future husband, a Chinese engineer. They lived for a time in her hometown, but before their third daughter was a month old, his new job took them to a new home in the Philippines. They didn't return to the United States to stay for another twenty-two years. While abroad, Ms. Chen earned an MFA in Creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, a feat that required nearly round-the-world travel twice every year. In 1983 she visited Xiamen, China, her husband's birthplace and the setting for her first novel, Tiger Tail Soup. Ms. Chen has been an accomplished Chinese brush painter and a batik artist. Currently she lives in Edmonds, WA, and spends her time writing and traveling to visit her far-flung children and grandchildren.