Rebecca Valentine began her journey to becoming a professional writer back in mid-1970s, when she suspected her mother was secretly reading her private diary. To collect evidence of this heinous crime, Rebecca began making up stories—wild stories, in which she “confessed” to doing things she knew would garner her mother’s disapproval. She recorded these false life experiences in her diary, and as imagined, Rebecca’s mom lost her mind upon discovering what her tween daughter was (not) up to. It was in that moment when Mom’s hand connected with Rebecca’s cheek in the slap heard ’round the world that Rebecca understood the power of the written word.

She has been telling stories ever since.

Having moved from New Jersey to Wisconsin to Pennsylvania and back to Wisconsin, to Colorado and finally to Maine, Rebecca now writes in a little red barn on the edge of the woods that line the meandering Dolly Gordon Brook. To her chagrin, she has no minions, but her life is populated by four fabulous children, one devoted partner, and Kya, canine extraordinaire.