Dr. Melba S. Ketchum moved to a small rural town in a forested area of Texas after graduating from Texas A&M University with a doctorate in veterinary medicine. She practiced as a veterinarian for several years before entering the field of genetics and becoming the director of a large laboratory. Melba continues to work in the field of genetics and lives in an area where there are frequent sightings of the forest people reported, making her privy to the local lore surrounding them. This prompted her to write the first novel Wishes.