Timera C. Drake-Woodell was born and raised in the Desert Southwest. Her hometown is El Paso, TX, but she always loved Seattle’s water and weather. She knew Seattle would one day be her home. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Medieval English Literature before working as a marketing writer.

She was a marketing writer and editor with the Las Cruces Sun-News in Las Cruces, NM before she moved to Santa Fe, NM to work for the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, makers of Natural American Spirit cigarettes, as a marketing copywriter.

After her time in Santa Fe, she pursued her Master of Arts degree in English Literature and Renaissance Drama at New Mexico State University. Her thesis explored how the outcome of a staged trial in a Renaissance play changed when a woman was accused of a crime. It’s terribly boring and nobody cares about it, but it helped her earn her master’s degree, so it has to be mentioned. After receiving her master’s, she taught high school and then college English in both El Paso and her adopted home of Washington. She taught pre-college reading and writing, English composition (English 101), and occasionally research and writing courses. She loved teaching but hated grading 150 essays four times every ten weeks.

Law is her third career. Despite years of people telling her she should become a lawyer, she did not consider it an option. However, Timera has been interested in the law for as long as she can remember, so she finally took everyone’s advice and went to law school. She does not regret it. She now works exclusively with court-appointed clients, offering conflict public defense services in King County and Seattle. She does not accept private-pay clients, because she enjoys helping those who need it the most.

In her free time, she enjoys watching law-oriented TV shows and movies like Law & Order, Boston Legal, and The Good Wife—you name a law drama or comedy, and she’s probably seen it! When she is not doing something law-related, it usually involves Gracie Lou and Winter Blu, socializing with her friends, and creating calligraphy and lettering items to give to friends and family. Unlike Gracie and Winter, Timera prefers to stay behind the camera, so there is no slide show with more photos of Timera.