J.M. Phillippe spent the early part of her life in the deserts of Santa Clarita, California where she learned about fire season and idolized She-Ra; her adolescent/young adult years in the ever-green Seattle suburbs where she gained an appreciation for walking in the rain and earned a degree in Journalism and Creative Writing; and her early twenties in Los Angeles where she tried to make a go of it as a freelance writer and thus learned a great deal about being an administrative assistant before ending up in public relations. Then she did the most LA thing she could think of ? she moved across the country to go to graduate school in New York City. She has settled in Brooklyn, New York and became a licensed masters social worker and works as a family therapist. She spends her free-time decorating her tiny apartment to her cat Oscar Wilde's liking (which consists of having lots of interesting things to lay on), drinking cider at her favorite British-style pub, and training to be the next Karate Kid, one wax-on at a time.