Linda K. Sienkiewicz grew up south of Cleveland, Ohio, content to sit cross-legged on the front step, folding and stapling manila paper into books she filled with happily-ever-after stories and drawings. As an artist and writer, she attributes her creative DIY drive to her mother, who taught her to sew at a young age, and her father, who allowed her play with the tools and gadgets in his workshop.   A scholarship art student, Linda worked in graphics before starting a family. Years later, she returned to her other love, writing. Her short stories, poetry, essays and art have been published in more than fifty literary journals. Among her awards are a poetry chapbook from Heartlands (Bottom Dog Press) and a Pushcart Prize Nomination. She has three other chapbooks: Postcard of a Naked Man, Dear Jim, and Security. Her MFA is from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine. Linda has founded an adult ADD support group, conducted workshops at a domestic violence shelter, worked as a conservation picture framing specialist, and participated in Pet-a-Pet therapy by visiting hospitals and nursing homes with her chocolate Lab. She now has a Welsh Pembroke Corgi that became her own therapy dog of sorts when she lost an adult son, the oldest of three children, in 2011. Writing for Linda has always been a way of making sense of the world, but for nearly two years after her son died, she was unable to write. Remembering how proud he was of her work enabled her to start writing again with renewed passion. One of the messages in In the Context of Love is knowing that every day is a day where bad things can happen, but we have to be open to the possibility of goodness, too. The inspiration for the novel, the tragedy in her personal life, and the struggle to stay positive exemplify this message. Linda lives with her husband in southeast Michigan where they spoil their grandchildren and then send them back home.  

Poetry Chapbook Award from Bottom Dog Press
Pushcart Prize Nomination
MFA in Fiction from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine