Constance Ford is originally from Idaho, and grew up there in an extremely conservative environment. After finally leaving it in her thirties, she earned an M.F.A. in creative writing at Hollins University, where she was the recipient of the Melanie Hook Rice Award in fiction. In 2001, she moved to Las Vegas and earned a Ph.D. in English, with creative dissertation, supported by the Schaeffer Fellowship, a three-year tuition waiver and stipend for graduate study in fiction writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a creative writing program which received the honor of being named one of the top five programs in the United States by the Atlantic Monthly. Her short story, “Little Bird,” was a finalist for the 2005 Nelson Algren Award. In 2009, she received the Nevada Arts Council Grant for fiction. She currently teaches English and creative writing at the College of Southern Nevada.