About the author:Patricia Harman has spent over thirty years caring for women as a midwife,first as a lay-midwife, and later as a nurse-midwife in teaching hospitals and a community hospital birthing center. She became an RN as the first step in getting licensed as certified nurse midwife. In 1985 she began her training at the University of Minnesota where she received her MSN in Nurse-Midwifery. She has been a nurse-midwife on the faculty of The Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University and most recently West Virginia University. She also spent several years in private practice, before the rising costs of liability insurance for Obstetrics caused her to give up deliveries. The change in life style afforded Harman the free time to pursue writing. She has written two memoirs; Arms Wide Open: A Midwife's Journey, and The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife's Memoir. She has also written several novels; The Midwife of Hope River and The Reluctant Midwife, which comprise the Hope River Series.