Nancy Chadwick grew up in a northern suburb of Chicago.  After receiving a journalism degree at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Nancy wanted to write mini stories to create ads for clients. Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago, her first job out of school, would be that place. After working a decade in the advertising agency business, and in international corporate banking, she became a writer, seizing inspiration from her years living in Chicago and San Francisco, and from the many meanderings through the woods of any forest. Her essays have appeared in The Magic of Memoir, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Writer’s Digest, and Women Writers, Women’s Books as well as blogs by the Chicago Writers Association Write City, Brevity, and About Write. Under the Birch Tree, A Memoir of Discovering Connections and Finding Home, The Wisdom of The Willow, and Mercy Town (2025) are by She Writes Press.