Julie Rogers-Martin has been an educator for 30 years serving at-risk students from New Orleans to Newark, New Jersey.  Her passion is putting the wonders of science and spirituality into narratives that inspire contagious curiosity and conversation.  Running afterschool programs, summer day camps, and teaching in public schools, she lives for the look of wonder and enchantment in a student’s eyes. After a gruesome battle with a school system that failed to address child security issues, she retired from the public school arena. Her husband urged her, “Take a year off and write that book inside you.”   And she did, resulting in a catharsis of emotions related to giving up her child for adoption as a young woman.

Although she studies under glass artists Matt Janke, and Nate Nardi, she still considers herself a novice glassblower.  But like her character Jenna, the closer she is to glass, the more she learns about life, love, and navigating the edges of fragility, transparency, and resilience.  She resides in Melbourne Beach, FL  with her husband of 30 years, visited often by her three grown children and grand dogs. Currently, she works as the Director of Children, Youth and Families at Eastminster Presbyterian Church.