Janet Wise was born and grew up in a small rural farming community in Nebraska. As a young adult, she married, is the mother of two daughters, and began her professional life as a public education teacher of fine arts in northern California. In 1993, and now divorced, she began working in U.S. government-funded international development in Washington, DC, and for sixteen years has managed finance, administration, grants under contract, and has served as a technical writer and Deputy Chief of Party on over-seas field projects. She spent three years working on a law and democracy project in Cambodia and a year following doing research and writing in the South Pacific. Commencing on 9 September 2001, she joined an education project in India, and while living in New Delhi, worked all over the country for four and a half years. She has travelled extensively in the region, including Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Dubai, and Myanmar. Having served subsequently in the Palestinian Territories, she is currently posted in Kabul, Afghanistan. The author maintains a home base in Atlanta, GA. In 2004, Wise turned her talents to fiction. The Black Silk Road” is her first novel.