Biographical Sketch of Rebecca J. Carlson

I was born in 1973, the same year that J.R.R. Tolkien passed away. Eight years later, I discovered his book, The Hobbit, on a shelf in the school library. Soon after that I won a school district story-writing contest. I determined that I was going to be a writer, and that I was going to write "there and back again" adventure stories.

In middle-school, I read every book in the school library that had dragons in it. Then I turned to the non-fiction section, where I began to explore the mystery and wonder of science. My focus changed. I wanted to be a nuclear physicist AND write books.

I went to college, got a physics degree from Brigham Young University, and worked as an undergraduate research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Even as a busy physics student, I couldn't stop writing. During my college years I created the Journal of Extraneous Scientific Topics, a science humor magazine that my friends and I photocopied and peddled around campus. The magazine only lasted a few years, but I did marry one of my staff members and now we're raising five children.

After college, instead of pursuing my physics career, I decided to go home and hang out with my kids. We told stories and read books together, and all the while I wrote and wrote.

In 2007 I completed my first novel. Since then I've written two other manuscripts, Earthcrosser, a post-apocalyptic novel for middle-grade readers, and The Handbook of Practical Knowledge, a saucy, original fantasy adventure. I'm now working on a new book, Corridor in the Closet, a middle-grade contemporary fantasy.

I live in Laie, Hawaii, where I enjoy wearing hats and building sandcastles. I also make and play Irish harps.

And, last but not least, as a full time homemaker, I daily do battle with the forces of entropy.