Mara Altman is a journalist and author. She grew up on her parents' plant nursery with her two older brothers. She quickly learned that no two people (or plants) do things the exact same way, and that's okay. (She also learned, the hard way, that cacti spines are sharp.) She now lives in San Diego with her husband and twins.

Mara Altman is the author of two nonfiction books, Thanks for Coming and Gross Anatomy: Dispatches from the Front (and Back), which was a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Altman also wrote eight best-selling Kindle Singles and has written for publications such as The New York Times and New York Magazine. Earlier in her career, she was a staff writer for The Village Voice and daily newspapers in India and Thailand. She lives in San Diego with her husband and twins.