Mark Childress was born in Monroeville, Alabama and grew up in Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. His articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Times of London, San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday Review, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Travel and Leisure, and other national and international publications. After graduation from the University of Alabama, Childress was a reporter for The Birmingham News, Features Editor of Southern Living magazine, and Regional Editor of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. He has been writing fiction and screenplays full time since 1987. He has lived all over the world, currently on the planet New Orleans.