Eleanor Glewwe was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Minnesota. Her parents sent her to French immersion school in kindergarten, and she began studying Mandarin in high school. At various points in her life, she has also attempted to teach herself Cantonese, German, Spanish, Hindi, Ancient Greek, and Turkish. She plays the cello and used to host music parties for her friends, arranging Renaissance dances and Baroque concerti grossi for unorthodox instrumentation. She plays the cello and once braved a snowstorm to perform in a chamber music competition. At Swarthmore College, she studied linguistics, French, and Chinese and worked in the music library, shelving composers’ biographies and binding scores with a needle and thread. More recently, she haunted the tunnels under the Minnesota State Capitol as a legislative advocate. In addition to being a writer, Eleanor is a folk dancer and a Sacred Harp singer. Eleanor lives in Los Angeles, where she is a graduate student in linguistics.