Carol E. Ayer

Carol E. Ayer has wanted to be a writer since she first taught herself to read at age four. She memorized the typewriter keyboard at age eight, knowing that writers had to learn how to type. Her first rejection slips came in around the same time, when she submitted short stories and a novel to various publications. Rather than dampen her enthusiasm, the rejections fueled her desire to continue writing. She's had better luck as an adult. (Even though she still gets rejected!) Some of her successes include short stories published by Woman's World, I Love Cats, and True Story, among others. The Princess and the Poison is her first published full-length novel.

Carol is a lifelong fan of storybook parks, a love that originated when she visited Children's Fairyland in Oakland, California countless times as a child. She worked at Fairyland in the 1980s and is proud to say that the park later inspired several works of fiction, including The Princess and the Poison. Carol currently lives in Northern California with her cat,