E. M. Criman grew up across the street from a forest in a small Oregon town where she watched the trolls and fairies in the forested meadow. Severe hearing problems left her to her own imagination and she created stories to make up for what she couldn’t hear. With each new set of tubes in her ears, the trees whispered to her, the forest beckoning, animals watching, imagination waiting. And as the breeze spoke, the story began.
Chocolate was the second word she ever spoke. She grew up on homemade chocolate pudding, making a mess of herself at the stove, stirring the dark mixture under her mother’s watchful eye, tasting it at every opportunity. To her, chocolate was a fine, delicious language.
Sometimes, she got in trouble. It took time for her parents to realize that the only way to ground their daughter was to take away chocolate and books. Nothing else really mattered, and she hasn’t really changed.
E.M. Criman has five sisters and has lived in three different states. She grew up with an ax and a rototiller and is comfortable in both the backyard and the kitchen. She loves the whispery forest, the calling ocean, and the endless, inviting desert. She loves traveling, and open road always calls for a new adventure. She’s worked in fast food, telemarketing, security, floral work, retail, tool companies, and law offices. She has loaded airplanes and performed other eclectic jobs.
E. M. writes supernatural fiction, specializing in urban fantasy. She loves nature and books and believes they should be appreciated equally, with copious amounts of chocolate. She currently resides in Utah with her dog and three cats, and her very kind and patient muse, her husband. She has a short story in SDWEG’s 2020 and 2021 Anthologies, and always has work to be edited, finished, or started. The story is always waiting.