The Understory - Hardcover

Elizabeth Leiknes grew up in rural Iowa and can make thirty-seven different dishes featuring corn. She attended the University of Iowa as an undergrad, and the University of Nevada, Reno for her Masters.

Her previous published novel is The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns. Black-Eyed Susan, Future Perfect, and Let Them Eat Corn are works in progress.

The inspiration for The Understory came one night while reading her sons a bedtime story about the rainforest.

Elizabeth has a love/hate relationship with great white sharks, and a slight penchant for speaking in hyperbole, which she says she never does.

She now lives near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, with her husband, and two sons, Hardy and Hatcher. She also teaches English there.

''Leiknes's love for the interconnectedness of human stories is contagious. Story Easton, the aptly named heroine of this cheeky and irreverent fairy tale, has a charming case of literary Tourette syndrome (among other enchanting quirks) and is a delight to tag along with on her week-long attempt to make a success of herself. Layer by layer, laugh by laugh, The Understory shows Leiknes's talents in full bloom.''

''Elizabeth Leiknes, the author, has got to become one of my favorite authors in this world. The writing style, it's kind of staccato almost--very nice beat and rhythm to it. It almost has the same style as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I actually added this to my top ten books . . . ever written.''