Kim van Alkemade has written two historical fiction novels: Orphan #8 (William Morrow, 2015) and Bachelor Girl (Touchstone, 2018). Her creative nonfiction essays have appeared in literary journals including Alaska Quarterly Review, CutBank, and So To Speak. She was born in New York, New York, and earned a B.A. in English and History from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and an M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is a Professor in the English Department at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania where she teaches writing.