The author, Leigh A. Arrathoon, has been writing since she was six years old. In addition to her fictional work, she has published a number of fundamental articles and books on the history, text, structure, and meaning of medieval literature. She is also a teacher, who, after hating social studies in public school and then falling in love with history in college, has spent many years figuring out how to make the subject fun from the very beginning.

Leigh was born November 30, 1942. She received her A.B. from Hunter College in 1963, her M.A. in French & another in Spanish from Stanford University in 1966 & 1968, & her M.A. & Ph.D. in the history of French Literature from Princeton University in 1975. She has also studied at the Universities of Geneva, Lausanne, Lille, & Oxford. She has published articles on Old French literature and Chaucer in Language & Style, Romance Philology, & Ball State University Forum, where her article, "The Two Saras of Chaucer’s Merchant’s Tale" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In the same period, she produced three academic books: The Lady of Vergi, The Craft of Fiction: Essays in Medieval Poetics, and Chaucer and the Craft of Fiction. She has taught French to children at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Menlo Park, California & Musson Elementary School in Rochester, Michigan. She was a T.A. at Stanford and Princeton Universities, & an Assistant Professor at Rider College, OCC,& Oakland University. She currently teaches French to adults for Rochester Enrichment and at home.

Leigh has had over 200 short stories published in The South Hill Gazette & Verses Magazine. Jody’s Michigan Adventures, a seven-book series about Michigan for children, ages 3-10, was published by Paint Creek Press in 1999. The hardcover sequel, Magical Adventures in Michigan (ages 10-12) was published in 2003. In 2001, Leigh began a new series of historical novels for young adults. The first volume of this series, Summer of the Bear, was published in 2006 and received The Historical Society of Michigan State History Award as an Outstanding Michigan History Publication for children and youth in September 2007. The second volume of this series, Eagle from the Dawn, was published in 2007. The author is currently writing the third volume, Indian Summer.