Penelope Thoms is a priest, hospice chaplain, spiritual director and bioethicist. She earned her Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees (with a concentration in Celtic spirituality) from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. A respected writer, Ms. Thoms’ award-winning poetry and short stories have appeared throughout the U.S., U.K. and Ireland. The author and her husband Stephen live in a 300 year-old stone cottage on the sea, near the Irish village of Kenmare in County Kerry, with their dogs, rabbit, guinea pig, birds and fish