Catherine Friend is the author of five romantic adventures: The Spanish Pearl, The Crown of Valencia, A Pirate's Heart, The Copper Egg, and Spark. She's also written two memoirs, one nonfiction book, and seven children's books. She's won a Minnesota Book Award, the Alice B. Readers Appreciation Award, an Independent Book Publishers Association award, four Golden Crown Literary Society Awards, and has been a Lambda Literary Award finalist. She's narrated two audio books with Dog Ear Audio: Hit by a Farm and A Pirate's Heart. She lives in Minnesota with her wife of thirty-four years, and is delighted that even after all this time they still really, really like each other. They have three dogs, five barn cats, and lots of bees. Her past lives include economist, technical writer, bookstore employee, packer of cheese gift boxes, and farmer. Her current day job is writing nonfiction for an educational publisher, which is more fun than it sounds.