Born in northern Ohio, Ms. Douglas has lived the majority of her life in Florida, growing up in Miami and now living on the "Space Coast" near Cape Canaveral, where shuttle launches visible from her front yard set the stage for Alpha Rising. When she's not contemplating space, involved in humanitarian activities, or writing, G.L. Douglas spends time learning from children and caring for animals. She enjoys nature, cooking, artistic pursuits and frivolous fun, and would love to go to Space Camp to experiment with zero gravity. Ms. Douglas holds great hope that in the near future many medical conditions will be successfully treated and cured in space station laboratories.

G.L. Douglas has one grown son and is a first-time grandmother. She has a strong faith and lives as a witness to God's miracles. Sixteen years ago, she was given two weeks to live during treatment of a softball-sized cancerous tumor on her pericardium (the protective sac around the heart). "The difficult year became a gift," she says.