Claire Matthews (the pen name chosen by author Farral Bradtke) was born on February 15, 1952, and raised in the northern Midwest of the United States.  She received her B.A. in Speech Corrections from the University of Michigan in 1973, and almost immediately joined the United States Air Force, where she was trained as a foreign language interpreter.  Eventually she returned to the field of speech therapy and graduated with a M.A. in Communication Disorders from Northern Michigan University in 1980.  Since then, she has worked as a speech therapist in preschools, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, an institution for developmentally delayed/emotionally impaired adults, in home health care, in private practice, and as a director of a university speech and hearing clinic.  She was a university professor teaching speech therapy for over sixteen years. 

 In addition to From the Ashes of Love, Farral has completed a horror novel, Heartless Heartland, and has started on a second novel.

 Claire is divorced with one adult son.  Currently she is living and working in North Carolina.