Francesca G. Varela was raised in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 2015 with a major in Environmental Studies and a minor in Creative Writing. During her time at UO, Francesca had pieces published in campus publications including Envision: Environmental Journalism and The Ecotone Journal of Environmental Studies. She then attended the University of Utah, and in 2018 she received her master’s degree in Environmental Humanities. She now works as a freelance copy editor in the Portland area, and she continues to write environmentally-themed novels. When not writing or reading, she spends her time practicing piano, figure skating, doing yoga, and exploring Oregon’s wild places.