Kirsten Mickelwait had a 40+ year career as a professional copywriter and editor before turning to writing fiction and creative nonfiction. She’s an alumna of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, the Paris Writers’ Conference, and the San Francisco Writers’ Conference. Her short story, “Parting with Nina,” won first prize in The Ledge’s 2004 Fiction Awards competition. Her memoir, The Ghost Marriage, was published by She Writes Press in 2021, and her bestselling historical novel, The Ashtrays are Full and the Glasses are Empty, was published by Koehler Books in May 2025. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she’s at work on a new speculative novel.