Esme Neely Smith has been a freelance writer for more than 20 years. She has also worked for daily, weekly and monthly publications. She has lived on the Broadneck peninsula for about 24 years after transferring to Maryland from Connecticut with a boating publication. For the last 10 years she has also worked as an au pair coordinator with a New York-based cultural exchange company. Esme has a degree in Journalism from Ohio Wesleyan University and studied in France as part of her undergraduate work. She and her husband Tom have three children.