Susan J McLeod was born in Rochester, New York, on October 22, 1957. She began writing at a very early age, when she discovered that she could invent worlds that were much more fun than the one she lived in. Worlds where candy grew on trees and rivers of chocolate milk flowed. Where adventures were always waiting to happen and no one had to go to school.Over the years, Susan visited ancient Rome, medieval England, and resided for a long spell on a starship orbiting Orion. A recent stay in Pharaonic Egypt resulted in her romantic suspense novel Soul and Shadow, which won a silver medal in the 2011 Reader's Favorites contest. It has been published by Imajin Books. Fire and Shadow, the second story in the Lily Evans series, was released in October 2012. Shell and Shadow is a novella that Susan wrote to raise money for Zara's Center. It was published in February of 2014.Susan also writes short stories and poetry, and has won awards in both mediums.She works for a non-profit family foundation that supports Zara's Center, a haven for AIDS impacted orphans.U2 sums up her philosophy in life when Bono sings "We're one, but we're not the same/we get to carry each other, carry each other."