Lori Closter is a wife, mom, and grammy who has long dreamed of giving people hope through stories. Raised outside Manhattan, she holds degrees from Cornell (BA) and Temple Universities (MA). She was writer/researcher/assistant producer on five short films for National Geographic before finding faith and moving to Massachusetts. There she homeschooled her three children, co-founded a support group, and started writing. She and her pastor husband ran a summer business in the Thousand Islands, where fabulous sunsets brought rest and inspiration. Now living in coastal North Carolina, they are self-publishing her YA novel, Topping the Willow, as a platform for sharing their spiritual journey with young people who need hope. Her screenplay of this story, a Kairos Prize finalist, is under consideration by producers.