About the Author

---

Mary Therese Pardinek was born in 1958. As a child, she was precocious and boisterous, yet could not effectively function in many sports due to her excessive weight. She was over 100 pounds in the first grade. Instead, she spent many days and hours reading children stories popular in that era. Mary was especially attracted to stories where the hero had some deficiency, which became a benefit instead of a failing. She had to drop out of high school. However, she put herself through an accredited engineering program at Purdue University. Mary graduated from Purdue in 1984 with a bachelor of science in engineering, became an accomplished, and noted chemical and environmental engineer. Eventually, she ran and operated her own business. Now, she writes and desires that her stories will inspire readers. Attribution given to State Bar of California for their permission to publish prior utilized CA Bar Exams, with assessed high grade answers.