Alicia Gifford lives in Los Angeles and writes short fiction. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and in a former life she worked as a certified Critical Care Nurse Specialist and Assistant Head Nurse in a busy, multidisciplinary ICU. She took the first of many short fiction classes at UCLA Extension's Writers Program in the fall of 2000 with author Tod Goldberg, and now writes full time. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Alaska Quarterly Review, Narrative Magazine, Confrontation, Per Contra, elimae, Storyglossia, Ink Pot, The Barcelona Review, McSweeney�s Internet Tendency, NFG Magazine, Mississippi Review.com, The Paumanok Review, Eyeshot, Pig Iron Malt and The Phone Book. Her work has been or will be anthologized in Robert Olen Butler Prize Stories 2005, Best American Erotica 2005, Best of Best American Erotica 2008, and See You Next Tuesday. Her short story "Toggling the Switch" won the 2005 Million Writers Award for best online short story of 2004. Other passions include the Eastern Sierra, the game of chess, traveling the world, and a man named Gene.