Ann Hinnenkamp has a B.A. in theater and went to graduate school at the U. of M. in the M.F.A. acting program. She freelances as an actor and director in the twin cities area and has played everything from Eleanor of Aquitaine, to the third extra on the right with the gap in her front teeth. She's a writer who never quit her day job, and works at a messenger service where the motto is: If you got it, a courier brought it. She's learned some life lessons:

• When designing a floor plan, never put your own office across from the bathrooms.
• All it has to do is snow to turn a great day to shit.
• It’s impossible to pick up a monkey at the airport, look him in the eye, and then deliver him to a testing lab.
• And transporting caskets, even when they’re empty, is just plain scary.