J.D. Riso has spent most of her adult life as a vagabond.
Ms. Riso has travelled up Papua New Guinea's remote upper Sepik River in a dugout canoe, island-hopped through Micronesia, and climbed up Vanuatu's Mt. Yasur volcano.
J.D.'s writing has appeared in numerous diverse publications and one of her short stories was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2005. She's currently working on two novels—one of them autobiographical, the other historical fiction based on the life of the enigmatic Countess de Castiglione.