J.R. Alcyone is an award-winning and published nature and landscape photographer, American Civil War history buff, lover of all things green heron, and a cancer survivor. A self-proclaimed “bird nerd,” her photography has been featured by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Smithsonian Institute, U.S. World and News Reports, and the Civil War Trust, as well as numerous other organizations and publications including U.S.A. Today, Cleveland Magazine, and The Harvard Crimson. Jen has a B.A. from Baldwin-Wallace College, where she majored in history and philosophy and minored in political science and literature. She also has a J.D. from the “Harvard of the Midwest,” the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, where she served as a managing editor for the Cleveland State Law Review. Jen currently lives a short distance from Lake Erie with her (rescued) parrots and her cranky plecostomus catfish. When she isn’t working, writing, or taking pictures, Jen enjoys listening to Pearl Jam, running, and helping other writers through beta reading. Five Fathoms Beneathis her first novel and is based in part on her own experiences with cancer and bipolar disorder.