S. Sue McMillan was born in Jewell, Kansas, in 1929. Her father, an electrician, moved the family to Boulder, Colorado in the early 40s to take advantage of plentiful work prospects. Sue attended Boulder public schools and the University of Colorado. She spent four years with her husband, Claude, in Brazil in the late 50s, where three of her four children were born. Returning to the US, she completed a BA in Fine Arts at the University of Colorado in 1967. A prolific painter her entire life, she enjoyed some success in a number of local art galleries. In her 60s she took an interest in writing novels, meeting the real Yana by chance on a walk around a lake in Boulder. During subsequent walks, Yana related to Sue the story of this novel and agreed to allow Sue to write about it. Sue died in 2016 at the age of 86.
