Judie Rae holds a Master's degree in Professional Writing. She is the author of four books for young people, including a Nancy Drew Mystery. She also authored a college thematic reader, Rites of Passage, and a poetry chapbook The Weight of Roses, published by Finishing Line Press. Her essays have appeared in The Sacramento Bee, as well as on San Francisco's NPR station KQED. She has also written for Outside California, Tahoe Quarterly, and Sacramento Magazine, and online for Women's Voices for Change. After twenty-seven years of teaching college English, Judie now concentrates on writing articles and essays primarily related to life in the Sierra Foothills, where, when she's not writing or gardening, she enjoys hiking the many trails around Nevada County.