Swimming Upstream is a work of fiction, but it has been deeply informed by my own experiences growing up. Like Ki and Brooke I grew up in southeastern Idaho. Like Ki I grew up on the banks of the Portnuef River on a small farm. The Douglass's property is about ten miles from ours. My love for streams and rivers was nurtured by my parents, two limnologists who took my sisters Michele and Jennye and I along on research trips into Idaho's backcountry. Here we are on one of our earliest. I'll be sharing more of what inspired Swimming Upstream in coming posts.
