Ru Emerson was born on December 15th, 1944 in Montana. She and her husband, Doug, live in Oregon with their only child, a silver mackerel tabby cat named Roberta. She likes to lift weights, run, bike, skate in-line, ski, play basketball, tennis, racquetball, garden, play guitar, scuba dive, and fly stunt kites. Her favorite reading material includes Megan Lindholm, science fiction by Larry Niven, murder mysteries by Patricia Cornwell, plus any other good historical non-fiction.