J. S. T. Botting is of Cherokee descent. She lives on a home farm in the hills of West Virginia with her husband, cat and three dogs. Poetry is, and always has been, her passion. She does not always follow a strict poetic form but, instead, lets the words flow as they come from somewhere deep inside of her. She started writing at the age of twelve and had numerous poems from those early years published in magazines and periodicals. Later in life she belonged to a group of poets in upstate New York who read their works in an open forum. Her efforts there were well received and often acclaimed by the attending public. She draws her inspiration from people and creatures that she refers to as her muses or by something she has seen or read. All of her poems reflect a deep understanding of both animal and human emotions and, in some cases, a whimsical appreciation of the absurd.