Smith, Claire: - Claire was born and raised in the northwest suburbs of the great Windy City: Chicago. She started writing in high school to fend off a nasty case of insomnia that started from having strangely vivid dreams. Luckily, the writing trick worked to break insomnia, and a decade later she's still happily addicted to writing. Her favorite things in life are a fresh, steaming cup of coffee, chocolate, music, spending quality time with friends and family, Sunday mornings, and being able to sleep in late. Her least favorite chore is laundry and her favorite feeling is having a productive writing day. Claire now lives in South Carolina where she moved to be closer to family.