Della Connor (D.E.L. Connor) was born in South Dakota and raised in Southeastern Montana where she acquired a keen appreciation for Western and Native American culture. She moved to Texas as a young adult and acquired her honorary Texan status. She became a registered nurse, a nurse practitioner and eventually earned her PhD in nursing. She still works as a nurse educator and as a nurse practitioner. Her nights and weekends, however, are filled with her stories and books.
The Spirit Warriors story evolved from a short story she wrote for a college English class in the early 1990's. The professor read it, loved it and asked her to stay after class and discuss it. During this discussion, he told her that a "dark" story like hers, written for older children, would be unmarketable and a hard sell. The story kept floating around in her mind. Finally, J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyers and others stepped forward with amazing "dark" stories to create a new genre called Young Adult. The time was finally right for her to write the story that had consumed her imagination for so long.