Fran Cannon Slayton spent her childhood growing up in Manassas and Haymarket, Virginia. She was a mean unicycle rider and pogo stick hopper, and prided herself as an all-around terror on the kickball field. Other favorite pastimes included exploding caps (with or without the use of a magnifying glass), catching salamanders with her bare hands, and using them as bait when she went fishing.

In high school she played first trumpet in the Bishop Ireton-Saint Mary’s Academy Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and lettered in four varsity sports (soccer, basketball, softball and field hockey -- goalies rule!). In college she went to the Junior Olympics in fencing, played in the Award Winning Virginia Fighting Cavalier Indoor/Outdoor Precision? Marching Pep Band and Chowder Society Review Unlimited!!!, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia with a double distinguished major in Psychology and Religious Studies.

After getting married to her college sweetheart and working on Capitol Hill for a couple of years, she went back to UVA’s Law School where she set a personal record by playing on six different softball teams in one single semester. After law school Fran became a prosecutor, specializing in child sex abuse cases, and then went on to become a legal publisher and mild-mannered title insurance agency owner. After her daughter was born, Fran became a stay-at-home mom (“the best job ever”), author, and part-time singer/trumpet player in a rock and roll cover band.