Jane Petrlik Smolik grew up in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. After earning a degree in psychology from the University of Miami, she moved to Boston where she later became a vice president of municipal bond trading for Tucker Anthony & R. L. Day.
She is the author of In and Out of Portland With Children and The Great State of Maine Activity Book, both published through her own MidRun Press. She now splits her time between her home on Massachusetts's North Shore and her family cottage in Scarborough, Maine. When not researching and writing books, she keeps busy painting, gardening, reading, and spending time with her husband, their family, and Gracie, their Weimaraner.