Jean Neff Guthrie earned a B.S. degree in Dairy Science from Virginia Tech and a M.S. degree in Mass Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University. She worked in public relations and association management in Richmond, Virginia for eight years. Then Guthrie moved to the Atlanta, Georgia area where she wrote novels and managed information technology projects/programs.

Guthrie's first published poem, "Prison Walls," appeared in America at the Millennium- the Best Poems and Poets of the 20th Century. Her poem "Baler Twine" won a National Cattlemen's Magazine contest and was published in its March 2001 edition.	

While living in Atlanta, Guthrie worked with author Tom Bird of Ambassador University in an intensive writer's program. She also attended writer's retreats on "Releasing the Author Within," "Editorial Eye," and "How to get on Oprah" with David Thalberg, Founding Partner of BrandStand.

The voice of fictional character, Aria Vanir, first spoke to Guthrie during the retreat with Tom Bird and David Thalberg. Guthrie listened to Aria and based her first novel, "Mystical Aria: Seeking the Gallion Queen," on this #psychic tween protagonist. It became an Amazon #1 bestseller, received Literary Classics Seal of Approval, and was awarded 5-stars review by Readers' Favorite.

Guthrie lives in Smyrna, Georgia, where she writes sequels about Aria Vanir and works as an IT program management consultant.