Caroline McCullagh grew up in Southern California. She completed two years of college at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, PA, but like so many women of her generation, she dropped out to marry and raise a family. She returned to Southern California, and after the failure of her first marriage, had a long and happy marriage with her late husband, Bill.

In her 30s, Caroline re-entered college at the University of California, San Diego, and earned a bachelor’s degree with department, school, and university honors in 1987. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1989, she earned a master’s degree in anthropology with an emphasis in cultural anthropology and, in 1993, received a Candidate in Philosophy Degree, also in anthropology, at UCSD. She’s had a lifelong interest in the Inuit and Eskimos of the far north.

The road to penning her own novels was not direct. Helping others with their work came first. In 1998, she edited a cookbook, Sing for Your Supper, for the San Diego Opera, and later participated in writing and performing in a short opera, The Singing Mirror. She has edited many books and short stories for friends, including her writing partner, Dr. Richard Lederer. Her other published books, co-written with Richard, include American Trivia and American Trivia Quiz Book. A daily newspaper column, based on those books, ran for four years in the San Diego Union Tribune. She has taught creative writing for many years in a program of continuing education for seniors.

It was when Anne O’Malley entered her life that Caroline found her voice. Like Caroline, Anne is a woman of a certain age. Like Caroline, she is widowed. And then Anne takes off from there. Seeking to find answers to a family mystery she had been researching with her husband, Anne ends up finding an adventure beyond her wildest imaginings and a love that is totally unanticipated. But most importantly, she learns that when allowed, the adventure in life continues at any age.

Caroline’s a gardener and a some-time quilter and is active in the American Mensa Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and the San Diego Opera. She also teaches in a creative writing program for seniors. Caroline loves to lunch with friends, play in her garden, spend time with her daughter and grandchildren, listen to music, read, and rework some of the dozens of recipes she will share with you in her blog. In her free time, Caroline thinks about writing as she plans Anne’s next adventure.