Terry L. White was raised in Appalachia, the eldest of eight children. Raised on a tenent farm, Ms. White found expression in writing, and worked her way through Skidmore College while in her 40s. Her degree  in American Studies lays the groundwork for the historical novels that illuminate the life of women born to adversity. Before college, Ms. White worked at blue collar jobs such as chambermaid, housekeeper and waitress. She played bass in a bluegrass band on weekends, and served as president of the Adirondack Fiddlers, collecting folk music for the International Fiddler's Hall of Fame in Osceola, NY and serving as the band's leader and grants-writer. She served on the board of directors of the New York Folklore Society. Terry paid for her degree by working with an antique dealer, who taught her about the physical nature of objects, clothing, and literature common in other times, as she continued to collect the materials that make her historical recreations in  fiction breathe. Five years as a reporter for a small-town daily earned Terry a good reputation in a small community on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the setting for her four-book Chesapeake Heritage novels, as well as Runaway Hearts, a book-length poem spotlighting the watermen's culture of this tidewater community and the compelling story of Harriet Tubman, who was born there. Ms. White worked at the Dorchester Arts Center where she did public relations and event planning, and for Pleasant Day Medical Adult Day Care Center where she wrote successful grants to fund patient needs, did publicity and planned large community events involving hundreds of vendors and volunteers to raise funds for patient care. "It is all about the people," Ms. White says of her work. "Everyone has a story, and they are eager to tell them."

Terry L. White has received a number of Editor's Choice awards from little and literary magazines. While working for Independent Newspapers, Inc., Ms. White earned two awards for excellence of her special sections and general journalism.