Tilia Klebenov Jacobs was born in Washington, DC, the second of four kids. Due to her father’s job with the State Department, the family lived in Bogotá, Colombia; Washington, DC; and Oslo, Norway; so when Tilia states that she doesn’t remember the seventies, it’s not nearly as exciting as it might be when Mick Jagger says it. The family returned to the United States in time for Tilia to attend high school in Massachusetts. She went on to Oberlin College, where she majored in English and religion. After taking a few years off to figure out what she was good at that didn’t involve academia, she returned to those hallowed halls to earn a Master of Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School and a teaching certification from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Tilia’s employment history is what career counselors call “interesting.” Her diligent efforts have supported temp agencies in several states and the District of Columbia. She was an outdoor educator with the Fairfax County Park Authority in Virginia, and has taught middle school, high school, and college. She now teaches prison inmates in Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband, two children, and joyfully idiotic standard poodle.
At last count, Tilia has published three novels, numerous short stories, and a smattering of memoir. She is a judge in the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition, a book reviewer for IndieReader.com, and an instructor at Grub Street in Boston. She also sits on the board of Mystery Writers of America.