Elyse Draper’s inspiration and understanding of the darker side of literature, and life, is drawn from the intimate experiences she has had in coping with hospice work, terminally ill patients, and teaching special needs children. That knowledge brings humanism to her plots and unexpected emotions to her character development. She is one of the authors in Voices of Autism: Stories of Courage, Comfort and Strength; Ladies of Horror 2009; has illustrated several others, and has three novels in the process of finding a home Free Will, Consequences, and Vindication, a fourth in progress The Takers, and a fifth on the drawing board Mirrorscape.