Mary Ann Rodman wanted to be a writer since the age of three, but was only inspired to write Yankee Girl, her first novel, after leaving her job as a librarian and moving to Thailand. The experience of dealing with a completely different culture reminded her of her childhood years spent in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s. Mary Ann moved to Mississippi when her father, an FBI agent, was sent there to investigate hate crimes during the civil rights movement. Yankee Girl is based on the author's personal experiences of that time and her character Alice Ann is, she says, "an improved version of me, someone who I wish I could have been". Mary Ann Rodman is married with one daughter and now lives in Alpharetta, Georgia.