Lauren LaRocca spent most of her life in Appalachia—from Pittsburgh to Western Maryland to Asheville to West Virginia—stopped in Baltimore for a short time, lived nomadically for a while, and recently landed in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After earning a BA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College, she spent 15 years working in newspapers and magazines as a features writer and editor, with a focus on arts and culture, the environment, and spirituality. Her interests in transpersonal psychology, astrology, dreamwork, energy work, and plant medicine has led her to become an astrologer, herbalist, and Reiki master. She’s also a published poet and musician. Her work has appeared in Enchanted Living Magazine, Baltimore magazine, Frederick Magazine, USA Today, Pittsburgh City Paper, Lines + Stars, and Hidden City Quarterly, among others.