Rawls earned her master’s degree in English from Florida State University and taught composition at Florida A&M University, both in Tallahassee. She is a published poet, essayist, and short story author. Mythlore has published several of her essays, including ​“The Rings of Power” (1984), ​“The Verse of J.R.R. Tolkien (1993), ​“Witches, Wives and Dragons: The Evolution of the Women in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea — An Overview” (2008), ​“Arwen, Shadow Bride” (1985), and ​“Herland and Out of the Silent Planet: A Comparison of a Feminist Utopia and a Male-charactered Fantasy” (1986). Her influential Mythlore essay ​“The Feminine Principle in Tolkien” (1984) was reprinted in Perlious and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien (2015).