Author Emily Elrod Cardenas

A fifth-generation Californian, I grew up spending school years in Hollister and summers at our family ranch in the Sierra Nevadas. Summers at the ranch felt a bit like Little House on the Prairie—we lived in a cabin, cooked on a wood-burning stove, brought in water from a spring, and yes, used an outhouse. After graduating from Santa Clara University, I co-edited, with Terry Beers, Califauna: A Literary Field Guide (Santa Clara University and Heyday Books, 2007), a literary exploration of California’s wildlife. I also contributed as a writer to Santa Clara Magazine, the University’s alumni publication. I'm currently a high school history teacher.