Liz grew up in Valdosta, Ga., known for its high school football and as the last watering hole on highway I-75 before entering Florida. She was editor of her high school newspaper and salutatorian of her class.  Liz graduated from Georgia Tech with an engineering degree and went on to a successful career at General Electric before joining a consulting firm.

The events that inspired Liz to write her psychological thriller, Free of Malice, happened to her while a senior at college. She was living off campus in an area called Home Park when she was jarred awake by the sound of her bedroom door crashing open. She surprised even herself at her ability to fight back before this would-be-rapist eventually fled. Though her voice was hoarse from screaming and her fingers bloody from his bites, Liz physically survived the attack. Emotionally, however, her sense of security was shaken. As a means to heal, she began writing about that night and the changes to her life.

At one point, Liz mentioned to her brother-in-law that if she had owned a gun, she would have shot the guy when he was leaving. He countered that her actions might not have been deemed self-defense which got her thinking about the criminal justice system. Though Free of Malice is a hypothetical legal story, written in conjunction with several criminal defense attorneys, the attack on the main character was drawn from Liz's real life experience. In addition, the unique therapy sessions using EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) techniques that the main character undergoes were written in collaboration with an EMDR trained therapist.

Interestingly, Liz never intended to write a fiction novel—she had other ambitions on her bucket list—a career at GE, living in Paris and learning to speak French, receiving her executive MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, earning her pilot's license, and co-producing a music CD with her best friend, Thomas Barnette. But as she describes it, "The book wouldn't leave me alone—it kept nudging me to write it to the point that I could no longer ignore its calling.  And now that the book is done, I look back and realize what a rewarding journey it has been."

Liz lives in Atlanta, is engaged to fiancé, Richard, and is a partner at a consulting firm focused on strategic planning. When she is not working, Liz enjoys reading, traveling, and spoiling Buckwheat, their cat.