H.C. Helfand is a native Marylander who has been a lawyer for more than 40 years, a judge for almost half of that, and a writer longer than she can remember. Her legal career immersed her in many areas of the law, and took her to prisons, psychiatric hospitals, impoverished urban and rural communities, dusty land record offices, and courtrooms filled with desperate litigants seeking justice. She is inspired to write the stories of those for whom no books have been written, so they may not be forgotten. She published a children’s book with an artist friend, And There Was Evening And There Was Morning, but found her true calling writing adult fiction that reflects the lives of ordinary people who have led extraordinary lives. Her first novel, Fee Simple Conditional, and current works in progress, reflect that call.