Leesa Cross-Smith is a homemaker and the author of seven books. She was longlisted for the 2022 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award and the 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Her third novel, Half-Blown Rose, received the Coups de Cœur recognition from the American Library in Paris, and was the Amazon Editors’ Spotlight pick for June 2022; the inaugural pick for Amazon editorial director Sarah Gelman’s book club, Sarah Selects; and the Barnes & Noble Book Club pick for June 2022. She lives in Kentucky with her husband and two children.