Catori Sarmiento is an author, artist, poet, and educator. She has written several books, including two award-winning titles, The Fortune Follies and Carnival Panic. Although she began writing at an early age, it was not until she began writing poetry during her time as a University of Maryland student that she decided to seriously pursue professional writing. She went on to study writing in a graduate program at National University of San Diego while also living in Tokyo, Japan. She now finds herself living in Idaho where she continues writing every day.