Born in Washington, DC, Marion Higgins retired from northern Maine to 12 acres of wooded land on the Blackwater River between Rocky Mount and Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia. Having lived in California before moving to Maine, her humorous essays convey the culture shock she experienced when she married her Maine Guide husband in 1980, as well as the experiences of retirement after working as a Maine staffer for the U.S. Senate. A contributing writer for Prime Living Magazine of Roanoke, Echoes Magazine of Maine, and a regular columnist for the Fort Fairfield Review in Maine, Marion’s short stories won first place in the Women’s Leadership Conference Creative Writing Contest at Ferrum College in 2002, and third place in the Chautauqua Creative Writing Contest at Wytheville College in 2005. A member of the Lake Writers, she presently serves as First Vice President of the Virginia Writers Club. She can be reached at MarionHiggins.com or at MarionHiggins@direcway.com.