M.K. McBriarty, WRITER is a graduate of Cook College, Rutgers University. She also wrote a novel, The Train to Bairam-Ali: Journey through Turkmenistan published in 2012. Ms. McBriarty is also an avid bird watcher and finds inspiration for her books by going on nature walks around her home in New Jersey, where she currently lives. The Birds in The Backyard, Tales Under the Sycamore Tree is the first collaboration with Terry With.