Lawrence Nielsen is a native Northern Californian. He shares his life with his wife of 39 years, who has patiently followed him from California to Brazil, and back to California. After years of teaching in the publish and perish world of universities and colleges, he chose to change direction and teach in the public schools of California. Currently, he teaches at H. P. B. Carden School which serves students in the Yuba-Sutter Bi-County Juvenile Hall. He lives in the foothills around the Yuba Goldfields and spends as much time as possible writing poetry and science fiction, beading and fabricating jewelry, hunting mushrooms in the coastal redwoods, and chasing gold and ghosts in California's gold fields and ghost towns.