Rebecca D. Elswick is the daughter and granddaughter of coal miners. She lives in the mountains of central Appalachia where she was born. She has an MFA from West Virginia Wesleyan College. Her debut novel, Mama's Shoes, won Writer's Digest Pitch2Win Contest in 2011 and was runner-up for Foreword Magazine's 2012 Book of the year. Elswick has published award-winning short fiction and nonfiction in many journals and anthologies, including Still: The Journal and Appalachian Magazine. She currently is the writer/crafter in residence at the Appalachian Arts Center in Cedar Bluff, VA.