J.A. Nielsen has always been surrounded by books. In elementary school, her dad gave her a two-book required reading list: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Once she got a library card, she had free range. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was the first novel she read twice. She blames The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald for her inability to go to sleep without reading. She holds an M.Ed. and an M.A. in Counseling and has had various careers in education. She spends most of her time writing, but can still be found teaching art, shelving library books, and choreographing school musicals. In all endeavors, she is driven by stories. Her story has led her to live all over —from a tropical island to the shadow of a crumbling Rhineland castle. But, the Pacific NW is always home. When not writing, she is often in the forest, on the water, or in the mountains. She still can’t go to sleep without reading. The Claiming is her first novel.
