Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple grew up in Hatfield, Massachusetts, and after 18 years of living elsewhere, she has returned. She has also returned to the family business—writing children’s books—after working as a probation/parole officer, a private investigator, and a bartender. Her mother, with whom she has been working with for many years on books including Dear Mother, Dear Daughter and The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories, is author Jane Yolen. Though Heidi did not want to be a writer like her mom when she was growing up, now she cannot imagine doing anything else. Heidi has two daughters, Maddison and Glendon.