Leslye Walton currently lives in Seattle, Washington, where she spends most of her time in her own world—which, for the record, is far better than the real one anyway—with her fittingly-named Chihuahua, Mr. Darcy, and her spirit guide, a cat named Griff.

When she’s not writing, she teaches middle-school students how to read and write, and most importantly, how to be kind to one anther, even when they really don’t feel like it.

Leslye works best under the light of the moon, and will often wake her friends in the middle of the night to ask if they know another word for vivacious or if they remember what the guy sitting behind them at dinner last Tuesday ordered for dessert. Fortunately, Leslye has very forgiving friends.

Three Things You Might Not Know About Leslye:

1. When Leslye was younger, she wanted to be a singer, a writer, a teacher, or a mermaid, in that order. Hey, three outta four ain’t bad!

2. Oh yeah. Leslye also sings (see above), though these days it’s primarily in the shower, or the car, or when she can convince talented students to accompany her on the guitar.

3. She has a pair of wings tattooed on her left wrist that she got when she learned The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender was going to be an actual book. She plans on memorializing each book with a tattoo. So far she has six tattoos . . . and one published book. Oops. Looks like she has some catching up to do!