Ren Barrie is the pen name of Dr. Karen Marie Scolforo, who spent more than seventeen years as a university president before returning to the classroom to teach seventh grade English. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in fiction from the Mountain View Program at Southern New Hampshire University, a Master of Arts in writing and literature from Rivier University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of North Florida, and she worked for more than six years as a journalist for regional newspapers across New England. Her debut novel, The Geography of Loneliness, was inspired by the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on the Loneliness and Isolation Epidemic plaguing Americans and people across the globe. She intends for this novel to inspire hope.