Lau­ra R. Samotin has a Ph.D. in inter­na­tion­al rela­tions and enjoys using her aca­d­e­m­ic back­ground on mil­i­tary tac­tics and lead­er­ship to inform her cre­ative writ­ing. Her fic­tion is ground­ed in Jew­ish myth, mys­ti­cism, and her East­ern Euro­pean Jew­ish her­itage. She lives with her spouse, and when she’s not writ­ing, she rel­ish­es her role as a full-time cat servant.