Background

Catherine Gilbert Murdock was born in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

. Her father was a chemical engineer, her mother a nurse. Along with her only sister, novelist Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth M. Gilbert is an American author, essayist, short story writer, biographer, novelist and memoirist. She is best known for her 2006 memoirs, Eat, Pray, Love, which as of December 2010, has spent 199 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, and was also made into a film by the same...

, she grew up on a small family Christmas tree

Christmas tree

The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...

 farm in Litchfield, Connecticut

Litchfield, Connecticut

Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, and is known as an affluent summer resort. The population was 8,316 at the 2000 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town...

. The family lived in the country with no neighbors and had a very old TV. Consequently, they all read a great deal.

She attended Bryn Mawr College

Bryn Mawr College

Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....

 and the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

. Her first book was Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen (novel)

Dairy Queen is a 2006 novel written by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. It received recognition as a 2007 Best Book for Young Adults from the American Library Association.The sequel is called The Off Season...

(2006), a critically acclaimed novel for young adults. She also wrote the sequel to Dairy Queen, The Off Season. Murdock's third book, Princess Ben, was released in 2008. The Dairy Queen series is being continued by a third book, Front and Center, which was released on October 19, 2009.

She now lives in suburban Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

with her husband and children.

External links

• Catherine Gilbert Murdock's website