Ann Leah Newman was born and raised in Southern California.  Although she majored in art, she studied to get her teaching credential and eventually a master’s degree in elementary education.  After college she moved with her husband to Parker, Arizona where she taught school for 25 years on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. 
     Now retired, she is a nature enthusiast who loves to explore the Arizona desert and photograph its wildlife.  She has been married for 40 years and has three grown children and two grandchildren. 
     Canyon Decree is her first novel and will be released in September of 2010.