Mary Kovaleski Byrnes is a writer living in Arlington, MA. Mary grew up in Lititz, PA, a small town in Lancaster County, and spent much time in Pennsylvania's Coal Region, where her extended family lives. After graduating from Mary Washington University, she lived in a hostel in New Zealand and worked as a housekeeper and waitress. She moved in Boston to work for an international non-profit that sent her frequently to Eastern Europe. These locations feature frequently in her work.