Melissa Eskue Ousley is an award-winning author living on the Oregon coast with her family, a neurotic dog, and a piranha. Her debut novel, Sign of the Throne, won a 2014 Reader's Favorite International Book Award and a 2014 Eric Hoffer Book Award. Her third book, The Sower Comes, won a 2016 Eric Hoffer Book Award. Her fourth book, Sunset Empire, was released in the Secrets and Shadows box set, a bestselling young adult collection. Her fifth book, Pitcher Plant, was released this May. When she's not writing, she can be found walking along the beach, poking dead things with a stick.