Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Nancy Potter moved with her family to The Hague in the Netherlands when she was nine. She spent five years living in Europe, learning French and gaining a life-long appreciation of international travel. After graduating from college, Potter moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked on Capitol Hill and at the White House in the Office of Communications where she helped formulate ways to explain to the American public the intricacies of a massive new program. Her entrepreneurial mindset led her to try her hand in several areas before she settled into the garment industry, where she designed fashionable maternity clothes in a market with few choices. When her son was born with a rare genetic skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa, or E.B., which results in fragile, blistering skin, she devoted herself to caring for him 24 hours a day. To help raise awareness of the disease and funds for research, Potter put on the first major fundraisers for E.B. in the 1990s, in Houston, Texas, and she continues to work to raise awareness. Now 31, her son is learning to live independently. Please consider donating to this organization by visiting www.debra.org Barbours Cut, Potter’s debut novel, is based on the rags-to-riches life of her great-grandfather, Captain Clyde A. Barbour. Born in 1874, he was instrumental in the development of Houston, especially the Houston Ship Channel, a part of which bears his name today: Barbours Cut and Barbours Terminal. The author’s extensive research for the novel included interviews she recorded with her grandmother, Captain Barbour’s daughter, Lilly. Potter currently lives just outside of Houston in a home brimming with memorabilia pertaining to Barbours Cut and has begun work on her second novel, based on her grandmother Lilly’s life.