Taylor Stevens, American novelist, was born in New York State, and into the Children of God, an apocalyptic religious cult spun from the Jesus Movement of the '60s. Raised in communes across the globe, separated from her family at age twelve and denied an education beyond sixth grade, Stevens lived on three continents and in a dozen countries before reaching fourteen. In place of schooling, the majority of her adolescence was spent begging on city streets at the behest of cult leaders, or as a worker bee child, caring for the many younger commune children, washing laundry and cooking meals for hundreds at a time. In her twenties, Stevens broke free in order to follow hope and a vague idea of what possibilities lay beyond. She now lives in Texas, and juggles full-time writing with full-time motherhood.