The daughter of artists, Ellen Behrens was raised in Clyde, Ohio, the setting for Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, Ohio,” which might explain why stories captured her at such a young age. After several years of doing other things — from selling souvenirs to cleaning apartments — and completing a bachelor’s degree at Denison University in Ohio, she returned to campus at Bowling Green State University where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.