Forrest Peterson earned a BA in history from Bethel University and MA in journalism-mass communication from the University of Minnesota. He has participated in workshops at The Loft in Minneapolis and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival at the University of Iowa. Previously, he was managing editor at the West Central Tribune in Willmar and later served as a public information officer for the State of Minnesota. He posts a weekly column on Substack, "Words on Paper," is a freelance reporter for MinnPost, and is working on his fifth novel.