H.M. "Marie" Gautsch started writing poetry at the age of thirteen. At the age of sixteen, she had her first poem published in the A Celebration of Young Poets collection. Marie took a break with her writing & focused on a different career in the Wisconsin National Guard in 2005. In 2006, she was mobilized and deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Marie started to pick up the pen again in 2007 to pass her time and an able to express herself during her tour of duty. She's been serving the military for nine years. March 2012, to put forth more into her writing, Marie started a blog to share her