Susanna Henighan Potter was born and raised in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in east Tennessee. Chilhowee Mountain stood sentry over the old farmhouse where she grew up, imagining trips to faraway times and places. Despite her best efforts, however, Susanna's upbringing was well grounded in Tennessee things: the wail of old-time bluegrass music, the bright orange of the Tennessee Volunteers, and the electricity of Friday night high school football. Family outings were almost always journeys to one or another of Tennessee's natural attractions, and she is a seasoned car camper.

Susanna graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in economics and enough clips from the Oberlin Review to land a job as a reporter in the British Virgin Islands. For several years, she wrote for local newspapers and filed reports for the Associated Press, returning to Tennessee for regular visits. In 2006, her first Moon Handbook, Moon Virgin Islands, was published.

Writing Moon Nashville & Memphis has been a journey of re-discovery for Susanna. It meant taking a second look at many places that were part of the landscape of her childhood. It also meant taking that thrilling first look at some parts of the state that were delightfully new to her.

Susanna lives with her husband in the Virgin Islands, where she works for the Government of the British Virgin Islands. She returns to Tennessee to visit her family several times a year.