Rod Hillen was born on a spooky October evening in Denver, Colorado to loving parents. Rod grew up loving art and comics. As a child, he would draw his favorite characters to find out what they were up to in their spare time. Rod also loved to read and would create stories for his own entertainment.

As he got better at drawing, Rod began to have admirers. Once, he drew a caricature of his 7th grade math teacher on his desk, and the teacher was so impressed he left it on the desk until the end of the day when Rod had to come back to clean it off. Sure, it was called detention, but that's the price of fandom.

The time came when Rod had to choose between art and literature, so he chose both. With a degree in illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Rod writes and illustrates children's books. His mission is to inspire children of all ages to follow their dreams, and be inspired by life. Rod recognizes a dearth of strong role models for girls in literature and seeks to fill that void if only a little.