Lee Orlich Bertram

American novelist and poet Lee Orlich Bertram hails originally from Los Angeles coming from a family with deep roots in the former Yugoslavia and Germany. She currently makes her home on the beautiful Palouse in Moscow, Idaho. Lee earned her BA, MA, and PhD from the University of California, Irvine and her JD from the University of Idaho.

Lee began her professional life originally in K-12 education, holding positions from teacher to superintendent of schools. She moved to Idaho to attend law school and set up her law practice in the states of Idaho and Washington. She still practices law while writing and for the last several years has taught business law and the law of international trade at Washington State University.

Since her earliest years, Lee has been a prolific writer. Encouraged by her family, who nurtured her flair for the dramatic, she developed a large collection of poems, short stories, and the beginnings of novels. Her debut book of poems, "Insistence, Persistence, and Resistance", released in June 2024, reflects the impact of people and events on her life loaded with deep emotion and personal details. Best-selling author, Mary Ellen Bramwell, has described the work as "A lyrical feast for the mind and heart." Lee's first novel in a new series, "Vengeance of the Vanished Ones -- Book One", was released in late November 2024. This novel is an action-adventure-packed, archaeological mystery thriller designed to keep readers engaged, surprised, and wondering what comes next. Author and Professor Mary Clearman Blew said about the novel, "Intricately plotted, an eerily precise and authentic background, and a cliff-hanger conclusion that invites the next page to be turned."

When Lee is not writing or practicing law, she enjoys playing piano, sitting on boards of directors, reading, cooking, and studying archaeology and Egyptology, a lifelong pursuit. She is well-traveled, multilingual, and enjoys the beauty of the Palouse region with her husband of many years, Dr. Jack Hill, and their fur and feather children.