John Riley lives with his wife, Susan, on a small farm near Parma in rural southern Michigan. Besides farming, he is also an elementary school teacher, having switched to teaching from a nearly twenty year career in the computer field. John has been writing poetry and short stories for most of his adult life. The Shimmer Tree is his first novel. He and Susan, raised three children, one boy, and two girls. Besides farming and writing, John enjoys tinkering with his classic Cockshutt-Co-ops and Minneapolis-Moline tractors. In fair weather, he drives a 1964 Studebaker Daytona, and has an interest in other orphan brands as well.