J. J. (or just Jen) Ulm lives in the Fifth By Northwest neighborhood of Columbus with three ferrets and her long-suffering best friend-slash-roommate. She grew up first in rural Alabama, then in the Washington D.C. suburbs, but as a Columbus resident since 2002 she considers Ohio her true home. She worked at Half Price Books and then Nationwide before recently deciding to get serious about writing, and she writes fiction in addition to her articles for the Free Press. Her obsessions include Transformers, writing implements, and long-out-of-print sci-fi and fantasy authors.