Liz Lyles was homeschooled during the years her family lived overseas and loved to lose herself in reading and studying ballet, which was her first passion until she turned 16 and realized she would never make it as a professional ballerina.  Determined to be practical, Liz gave up dance to focus on her studies, earning an undergraduate degree in English Literature followed by an MA with a teaching credential.  While teaching journaling to her junior high students, Liz discovered her own voice and The Falconer's Daughter, her first historical, was inspired by the sprawling historical sagas she'd loved as a girl.