Nina Vida’s writ­ing career began when her chil­dren went off to col­lege and she enrolled in the Uni­ver­si­ty With­out Walls pro­gram at Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty Dominguez Hills to pur­sue a long-deferred degree in Eng­lish. Lil­li Cher­nof­sky is her ninth pub­lished nov­el. She is a native-born Cal­i­forn­ian and lives with her hus­band in Hunt­ing­ton Beach California.