Gretel Ehrlich divides her time between California and Wyoming. She is the winner of a National Endowment for the Arts award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters for Distinguished Prose award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her books include This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland, The Future of Ice: A Journey into Cold, and The Solace of Open Spaces.

"Gretel Ehrlich has a strong, unique voice that grasps you and leads you along like a firm hand." Edward Hoagland "In Drinking Dry Clouds, Gretel Ehrlich manages a control over her interconnected 'Stories from Wyoming' that is similar to that achieved in a fine novel; these stories collectively equal a novel's scope and depth." Magill Book Reviews "These spare, 'palm-in-the-hand' stories are eloquent character sketches linked by geography and time... Each portrait, narrated in the first person, is both delicate, sturdy, and skillful." Library Journal