For many years, Marsena worked in the textbook publishing industry, taking note of the amount of editors who would admit in secret that they'd rather be writing. Although she is grateful for the experience and still enjoys editing on a case-by-case basis, she is glad to not be numbered among the many disappointed writers who got stuck on that side of publishing. She is also immensely grateful that her own editors, Gretchen Jaeger and Lil Copan, are not only excellent editors, but love what they do. A fabulous editor helps to make a fabulous book.

Once she got serious about writing, Marsena looked into some MFA programs. The regular, on-campus programs that emphasized tests and hundreds of hours in workshops critiquing other students’ work made her feel old and tired. Luckily she found a low-residency program that offers vigorous feedback, periodic but intense interaction with students and faculty, and lots of solitary time in which her writing could percolate. She graduated with her MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College in 2001.

Marsena lives in the Chicago area with her husband, great aunt, one dog, and two cats. If you think that sounds crazy, you’d be right. When Marsena’s not yelling at the cats to stop scratching the furniture or screeching at the dog to stop barking, she enjoys doing crossword puzzles with her aunt and stealing the occasional quiet moment to write.