Jean Bell is a graduate of St. Norbert College in DePere Wisconsin. She did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin on the Green Bay campus, majoring in music performance and minoring in speech and drama. She is a weekly participant in the Monday Sand Castle Writers forum. After a stint of ten years in Tulsa OK, teaching and serving as Fine Arts Coordinator at Holland Hall, a private day school, she moved to Oak Park, IL. There she served as president of McDowell Artists Association, producing, editing, and directing plays by new playwrights. She vacations in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where she was born. Longtime residents refer to the area as God's Country. This location was the inspiration for her first novel, A Loved Place. Little changes in this area over the years. Plum Jelly. her second novel, also takes place in the Midwest. She enjoys writing short stories. Her short story, The Silver Stream, was recently published in Voices-a literary journal. She now resides in Ogden Dunes, IN, on Lake Michigan's shore. In her spare time, Jean likes to photograph the ever shifting sand dunes and cheer the ongoing restoration of native flora.