As a young woman, Rachel Randall spent time in Latvia, a beautiful eastern European country along the Baltic Sea, immersing herself in the local language and culture. Aspects of their folklore -the Daughters of the Sun, and devils who kidnap people and drag them through forest entrances to their world- were used in the creation of Shadelands, her first book. Currently, Randall lives on a wooded hill near Seattle with her husband and two children.