Armed with a useless liberal arts degree, Riya Anne Polcastro is a student of human behavior and a conduit for raw words. Maybe it is because she learned to read and write in her second language before she learned to do the same in her first. Maybe it is because she was raised a missionary’s daughter at the same time that she was taught to question everything. Maybe there are a whole lot of reasons. Either way, her fascination with mental illness and human interaction is weaved into fiction with a language that is at times caressed and loved, at others beaten into submission. A longtime resident of the Pacific Northwest, Polcastro aims to join the ranks of great Oregon writers. Her first love is dark, edgy literary fiction but she also dabbles in young adult dystopia and non-fiction. While she has been heavily inspired by the genius of writers such as Palahniuk and Tolstoy, music has also played a huge role, with artists like Gnarles Barkley and Tool having a tremendous influence in her stories. Polcastro enjoys an active lifestyle, including running, hiking, in-line skating, and a special brand of tennis lovingly called “Get it Bitch”. She also enjoys spending time with her family, making beer and getting away to British Columbia at every possible opportunity. Her favorite color is burnt orange, but it is hard to find so she wears a lot of red instead.