Dori Hillestad Butler grew up writing, for she had no brothers or sisters to play with until she was eight years old. The first book she published was The Great Tooth Fairy Rip-Off , it took her many years to sell that book, followed by four more picture books. She then started writing YA books short stories have appeared in anthologies entitled, The Green Umbrella and Other Sports Stories (Highlights for Children, 1995) and Not the Only One (Alyson Publications, 1994) and in magazines including Cricket, Spider, Highlights for Children, Children's Digest, Child Life and a variety of Sunday School publications. Dori also writes educational materials, edit stories for www.storydog.com, and has a regular book review coloumn in her local newspaper. She currently lives in Coralville, Iowa with her husband, two sons, Ben and Andy, a black cocker spaniel named Molly, a cat named Ashley and a betta fish named Willie.