Gianna Marino

[excerpt from author's website]
Gianna Marino was born in San Francisco and spent her early years galloping horses through Golden Gate Park. Her explorations expanded after graduating from high school and in order to afford her many journeys, Gianna had several jobs at once: apprenticing a muralist, a jewelry designer, a product designer and driving horse carriages through the park. She explored many corners of the world, from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, to the South Pacific, Mongolia, and as crew on sailboats in the high seas.

Gianna finally landed a full-time freelance gig designing toys for children, but after several years in a corporate box with no windows, she left for good and began painting, illustrating and writing books for children.

Though she still wanders the world, Gianna now lives in Southern Colorado on an elk reserve and works full-time writing and illustrating.