Catherynne M. Valente is the New York Times bestselling author of over two dozen works of fiction and poetry, including Palimpsest, the Orphan's Tales series, Deathless, Radiance, and the crowdfunded phenomenon The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Own Making. She is the winner of the Andre Norton, Tiptree, Mythopoeic, Rhysling, Lambda, Locus and Hugo awards and has been a finalist the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. She lives on an island off the coast of Maine with her partner, two dogs, two enormous cats, four chickens, several spinning wheels with ulterior motives, an uncompleted master's degree, and a secret door in the back of her wardrobe.