Nikki Benjamin was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, but after living in the Houston area for almost 30 years, she considers herself a Texan. She attended Notre Dame High School and graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia with a degree in secondary education. She worked in the circulation department of the Houston Public Library and as the executive assistant to the president of an international marine engineering company prior to embarking on her writing career. Always an avid reader, Nikki was encouraged to write by a good friend, a fellow reader and writer. They discussed story ideas and critiqued each other’s manuscripts, and eventually sold their first books a few months apart. During the early years of her writing career, Nikki especially enjoyed being able to work at home while raising her son, now attending college in Montana. Nikki has also had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe. She has sailed along the Dalmatian coast on a 42-foot charter boat, and in recent years, she lived for several weeks at a time in such exotic places as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently, she enjoys sailing on Galveston Bay, where she crews regularly on a friend’s 42-foot sailboat. She attends the Houston symphony and Stages theatre, likes to pot garden on her patio, and often cooks lavish meals to share with friends. She is still an avid reader, and she continues to enjoy traveling, especially to western Montana, either on her own or with her equally adventurous friends.