Juliette Porter Mitchell was born in Virginia. As a child, she listened to stories told by the elders on her African American and Native American heritage and history. Many generations of children traveled to spend time with a family elder, who gave them patience guidance and understanding and oral history. The author of several novels including, Whispering Wind, Betrayal, The Cove, and The Promise. She was inspired to write Wilderness Acres, A Children's Black Cowboy Story after watching the cowboys unload hay from their trucks. But writing a book about Black Cowboys meant spending time at their barns and listening to their stories and learning to do chores, just like the young character in the book. Young Willie Morton returns, in the second book, of the Wilderness Acres series Willie's Courage.