Audrey J Whitson is a writer and poet with publications in a variety of journals. Audrey received her Batchelor of Social Work degree from the University of Calgary in 1981 and her MA in theology from the Franciscan School of Theology in California in 1989. She has taught theology at colleges in Edmonton. Through her organization, 'Spirit Links', Audrey facilitates workshops and retreats on a variety of spirituality-centred topics, including women's spirit circles and guided pilgrimages.

"Majestic is depicted with poetic complexity. Annie's friends have a salt-of-the-earth goodness, and Annie herself is a faceted, compelling woman who emerges from personal darkness to find her own peace." -- Meg Nola, Foreword Reviews

"Despite the lemon squares and the familiar agri-business headlines, this is not a domestic novel. Rather, The Death of Annie the Water Witcher by Lightning reads as if it has come out of translation, out of a language created and shared within a community formed by geography, memory, and its own expedient, indefinable spirituality. It’s a funeral story told in forks of lightning, dozen of voices, flashing in and out of transfiguration. Like a good translation, it’s unafraid to leave in shadows what it can assume everyone already knows, rushing instead to throw light on what—until now—has been unknowable." -- Jennifer Quist, author of The Apocalypse of Morgan Turner

"With humour and heart, Whitson peels back the small-town preoccupations of a winning cast of characters, laying bare the mysterious undercurrents of their world and beyond. Annie the water diviner is a force to be reckoned with, even after her death. This book is lyrical and lovely, a stunning achievement." -- Fran Kimmel, author of No Good Asking and The Shore Girl