Laura (Husby) Roybal was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and moved to New Mexico in 1975 to attend the University of New Mexico. She later finished a degree in English literature at New Mexico Highlands University and is currently taking distance classes from the Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Her first novel, Billy, was published in 1994 by Houghton Mifflin and was on the ALA recommended list of Books for Reluctant Readers. In 2001 she self-published the sequel, Dear Bobby, and her version of what might have happened to the characters of the 1970's TV series Lancer, is published on the Lancerfanfic website. She and her husband, Deacon Richard Roybal, live on a small ranch in the mountains north of Pecos, New Mexico where they run a small retreat center and a construction business. They have three children, a son-in-law and daughter-in-law and fourteen grandchildren. Besides working with youth through the local parish, Laura also helps home school some of the grandchildren.