Michelle Markey Butler is a Lecturer at the University of Maryland, where she teaches medieval literature, Tolkien, Harry Potter, and contemporary fantasy. Her current academic project is Hobbits and House-elves: Shared Themes in Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (draft stage). She is the author of SF/F stories, a historical fantasy novel, Homegoing (Pink Narcissus Press, 2014), and a historical novel about Viking-age Ireland, The Last Abbot of Linn Duachaill (with Jess Barry, S&H Publishing, 2015). "Fly and Fall" is her first romance publication. Unwilling to waste hard-won material, she blogs about parenting at heirraising.wordpress.com. You can read which of her children won the Grossocity Olympics. Pro tip: Not near meal-time.