Growing up in Midwestern America, Juilene Osborne-McKnight experienced an idyllic childhood, in which neighbors knew one another. Since her upbringing in Ohio, Osborne-McKnight has also lived in New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Italy, and Ireland. She has worked as a college professor, high-school teacher, newspaper reporter, newspaper columnist, magazine columnist, and travel writer. In addition to writing, she enjoys photography, and she has had dozens of articles and photographs published.
Fluent in French, Italian, German, Irish, and English, Osborne-McKnight is the chair of humanities, chair of communication, director of creative writing, and an associate professor of journalism, literature, and creative writing at DeSales University in Pennsylvania. She considers herself a seanchaí, a traditional storyteller in the ancient Irish tradition, and she fulfills this role by speaking at libraries, schools, churches, and conferences.
Osborne-McKnight is a member of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, the Historical Novel Society, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She also belongs to Daltaí na Gaeilge, an Irish-language organization. Osborne-McKnight’s storytelling skills are evident in her four published novels of historical fantasy. In addition to her membership in literary and Irish organizations, she is a charter member of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, helping to preserve the culture and history of Native Americans.
When she is not writing or teaching, Osborne-McKnight enjoys singing in her local church choir. She and her husband, Thomas, live in Warrington, Pennsylvania. Their daughter, Mara, is the illustrator of this book.
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