After E. Joan Sims completed her graduate and postgraduate work at Emory University in Atlanta, she married a handsome young foreign student, and ran off to Spain with him. They returned to the United States to pursue their careers and then moved again - this time to Venezuela with their two young daughters.

Joan's experiences in Caracas taught her many things: how to tolerate a housekeeper who teaches your children magic spells, what to wear to a possible hostage situation, and when there is a coup d'etat, baking cookies can be good for the nerves.

Joan and her husband now live in Georgia with a nasty little dog that greatly resembles the one in this book.