D. M. Read was born in Texas but spent five years of her early childhood in Tokyo and Singapore. Brought up by a father who loved English literature and a mother who adored opera, Read has always been interested in books, both reading them and writing them. Now an “empty nester,” Read has traveled extensively with her spouse to the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Antipodes, Europe, China, and the Middle East. At home in the USA she grows herbs and tries to keep the family beagle from misbehaving.