Born in North Dakota and grew up in the Midwest, but I've also lived for short periods of time on the east coast and in Canada, and Kuwait. For the past four decades, I've resided on a houseboat outside of Portland, Oregon, in the company of various animals, including cats, dogs, otters, and beavers, as well as birds: eagles, osprey, herons, hawks, cormorants, and a wide variety of songbirds. Published a book of fiction, The Riverhouse Stories, and a memoir of my river life in the form of a glossary of houseboat terms, The River Runs Under It: 40 Years on a Houseboat in Oregon. Stories, essays, poems, and articles have appeared in various publications over the years, most recently in McSweeney's and Yes magazine. Currently, I'm working on a collection of essays on the topic of aging because I'm getting old, and I'm curious and opinionated about the whole experience. This collection will be published by OSU Press in Spring, 2021. To learn more, you can visit andreacarlisle.com. (Author illustration by Enkhbayar Munkh-Erdene.)