ONeil, Carolyn Tara: - Carolyn Tara ONeil grew up in a tiny New York City apartment filled with thousands of books. Every Friday she went to the public library for even more reading material. Shes lived in France, Spain, and Japan, before circling back to New York. Carolyn now lives in a slightly smaller NYC apartment with slightly fewer books, and still goes to the library every week. Daughters of a Dead Empire is her debut novel.