Marcia Hoehne (say HAY-nee) grew up in a small Midwestern town with her nose in a book, as did her best friend who lived behind her -- and from whose perspective it was probably Marcia who "lived behind." When the two managed to put the books down, their play consisted of what an acting school would call improv (using such props as weeds, junk mail, bricks, and at least one dead mouse in a cottage cheese carton), except for the times they did something normal like go to the swimming pool. The other neighborhood kids thought they were weird, though they were blissfully unaware of this at the time. When Marcia's parents made her come in the house, she drew pictures, played piano, and wrote stories, but mostly she read.  

In college, Marcia majored in math, but it took her years to fully understand why: Math walks the line between reality and fantasy. Math is at once the most practical and imaginary of subjects. She got a glimpse of this truth about halfway through her degree and added a business major in hopes of becoming employable. At the same time this strategy was garnering mixed results, her heart began tugging her back to writing. For better or worse, she plunged down the writing path and never looked back.

Having only caged birds (and temporarily, one snapping turtle) as childhood pets, Marcia didn't discover her love of cats until adulthood. Today, she writes, edits, and lives in Wisconsin with her husband and, yes, two cats. Visit her on Twitter @marciabooks