Emily Berge was raised on a lake, not the Mississippi River, in rural Iowa. Some highlights of her childhood include watching thunderstorms from the garage and eating tater tot casserole. Her work as a filmmaker has been featured across several platforms, including being screened at the British Film Institute. Her writing for adults has appeared in Electric Literature and McSweeney's. She has her MFA in fiction from the Bennington College Writing Seminars. She lives with her husband, Spencer Thielmann, and their cat, Frances, in the middle of the woods.

Spencer Thielmann spent his childhood riding bikes and bothering his neighbors in the suburbs of New Jersey. Together with his partner Emily Berge, he has sold a screenplay, screened at the British Film Institute, and featured work at New York Comic Con. Spencer has directed commercial work for Meta and Spotify, produced content for Audible and Condé Nast, and won two New York Emmys with NBC. An honorary Iowan by marriage, Spencer believes that river swimming is the best kind of swimming, though any form of swimming will do on a hot summer day.