Nicole Burnham--"Niki" for short--is the author of a dozen books for teens and adults. Niki graduated from Mannheim American High School in Mannheim, Germany, received her B.A. in political science from Colorado State University, then obtained both her M.A. in political science and her law degree from the University of Michigan. Since school is (sadly) not free, she worked at various times bagging groceries, bookkeeping for an Army commissary, cleaning a bowling alley, waiting tables at West Point, babysitting, tutoring college athletes (eerily similar to babysitting at times), as a political science research assistant, and at the front desk of her law school dorm. After graduation, she clerked for a federal magistrate in Colorado and practiced law in St. Louis before turning to writing. Writing is far and away the best job she's ever had.
When she's not busy making up stories, Niki plays softball, wrestles papers away from her miniature poodle, Tipper, and travels abroad whenever she can score cheap airfare. She believes in tipping well for good service, thanking grocery store baggers, and in cleaning up after yourself at bowling alleys and movie theaters. She's also convinced she'd be a phenomenal contestant on The Amazing Race.