J. Dean (Jeannette Dean) Author Bio:

The Colorado mountains held my heart until it was claimed by the open ocean. Then came years of sailing in the Caribbean, one slow circumnavigation of our Earth, and lots of time exploring, experiencing people and places, creatures and cultures, gathering stories and inspiration, with adventures and misadventures aplenty. Time ashore, even the necessary years in Alabama and England, provided fodder and stimuli. On the Alabama Gulf Coast I connected with my family, established a tree farm, and worked with a rural community to block a landfill. In England I received my diploma in Environmental Development in Developing Countries, had a few short stories and articles published, and received the British Diversity Award for my article, 'Women in Prison', based on my personal experience, of course. I am at sea again, where I belong, where I have looked into the eye of a whale. However, it was in ports-of-call and villages that tales were told, stories gathered for my Cannabis Yachties series of novels about an extended family of grass smugglers in the Caribbean who have supplied the Stateside market since the '60s. S/Y Rain Finger, our 35ft Bristol sloop, has brought me to Brazil with my husband, Rauf Bolden, and canine crew, Junkyard the Magnificent. We cruised the Intracoastal Waterway and the Bahamas, then sailed across the North Atlantic to the Azores and island-hopped into the South Atlantic, sailing across the Equator for the 5th time. How I love the open ocean!