Rose Ash is the pen name for Betsy Sleath who was born in Middletown, Connecticut. She went to UCONN where she studied pharmacy and sociology and then went to University of Wisconsin to obtain her doctorate. She has been a professor of pharmacy for over 25 years at University of New Mexico and then the University of North Carolina. She studied fiction writing at the University of North Carolina. She enjoys writing stories about community and romance that take place in small towns in pharmacies with soda fountains. Her mom worked in a small town pharmacy when she was growing up. This is her first work of historical fiction. She also wrote the romance and suspense novel Pelican Island Pharmacy. She is currently working on a sequel to Pelican Island Pharmacy.