Clara Bush Vadala grew up in Celina, Texas, and also in campsites across the state on family summer trips and camping with friends. She found her writing spark at Texas Tech University, studying to go to vet school while earning a degree in Environment and the Humanities. She credits her undergraduate major and parent's musical genes (rocker dad) and poetic tendencies (award-winning poet mom) for her love of poetry and the musicality and lyricism of nature writing. Animals have also played a major role in discovering and exploring wildness, a theme she also explores in her writing and her professional life. Clara is currently a veterinary student at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine, studying small animal and exotic veterinary medicine. She has pets of her own too, who serve as daily inspiration and animal therapy: her two dogs, Lulu and Zeus; her cat, Treble; her cockatiel, Kenneth; and an array of tropical fish. Prairie Smoke: Poems from the Grasslands is Clara's first full-length book of poetry.