The short version:

Becky Allen grew up in a tiny town outside Ithaca, New York, and graduated from Brandeis University with a major in American studies and a minor in journalism. They’re nonbinary, work in tech and  live in New York. The silver in their hair is all natural.

The slightly longer version, in first person:

My name is Becky Allen. I grew up in the tiny town of Newfield, New York, in a house that was within walking distance of an apple orchard up the road and a covered bridge just down the street. I walked to school, uphill both ways (there were multiple hills), and often through snow drifts that were taller than I was. (To be fair, I am not very tall.) I played bass clarinet badly, soccer even worse, and took part in basically every student activity. I was so much nerdier than you are picturing.

I attended Brandeis University, where I majored in American Studies, because there were classes that would let me watch TV as homework, and minored in journalism, on the theory that I should probably attempt to learn something useful. My senior year, I wrote my first serious attempt at a novel. (It was not very good.)

After college I moved to New York with the vague idea that I would work in publishing or something. I spent a year working at a business magazine, which, ironically, then went out of business. I scrambled to find a job, ended up working at a company producing health websites, and moved into online product management.

I still live in New York, with my sister, Rachel, and our little black cats, Hex and Jinx.

After moving to New York I wrote my second and third manuscripts, which were also not very good and went nowhere, and then my fourth, which eventually became BOUND BY BLOOD AND SAND. The sequel, FREED BY FLAME AND STORM, came out a year later.

Since then, I’ve bought an apartment, learned to swim, figured out I’m nonbinary, and have given up on blogging. The newsletter is the best way to hear from me.