Emi­ly Lock­er spent most of fourth grade per­suad­ing her friends to reen­act scenes from Sweet Val­ley High. She recent­ly returned to Wash­ing­ton, D.C., where she lives with her hus­band and two young sons. When Emi­ly is not writ­ing or chas­ing after her ​“live­ly” boys, she works as a ther­a­pist in pri­vate prac­tice. Run­ning Mates is her first novel.