Barbara Lazar studied English Literature at Syracuse University; she received her masters from the University of South Florida in Tampa and was selected to be that university's representative to the Florida Poetry Festival and received her doctorate from the University of Virginia in reading education. She taught for many years, worked as a mainframe programmer for NASA, and wrote and taught as an Instructional Systems Designer for major corporations. Obsessed with Japanese culture and its rich history of storytelling, she has spent the last twelve years meticulously researching what has become THE PILLOW BOOK OF THE FLOWER SAMURAI. She currently writes and teaches in San Antonio, Texas.