Bev Hamel left the corporate world of sales and marketing for major corporations to open an antique shop, write, and return to school. She graduated from Salem College in 2006 and earned her MFA from Goddard College, Vermont in 2008. She and her family have restored four historic properties, three in Bethania. She is a freelance writer, writes for numerous publications, and is an award winning poet and essayist. She is a lecturer and creative writing teacher as well as history buff and antique collector. Her first history book, Bethania: The Village by the Black Walnut Bottom was published by The History Press in July 2009.