Erin Celello was born and raised in Michigan’s gorgeous Upper Peninsula where she spearheaded a neighborhood effort to sell Trilliums in beer bottles (because lemonade stand revenues just weren’t cutting it), taught herself to do a “Three Amigos” mount onto her saint–like horse’s back, ski raced, spent a lot of time trying to get out of track workouts, and made many dubious fashion and hair choices (thank god Facebook showed up after high school), and one dubious choice in general that resulted in her having to paint the rival football team’s stadium.She received an English degree from St. Norbert College, where she also ran track and was an editor of The St. Norbert TIMES. Not knowing what else one does with a degree in English, Erin set out for law school but never quite got there. Instead, she headed back up (farther) north to Marquette, Michigan where she received an MFA in fiction from Northern Michigan University and a PhD in snow shoveling.