Our Authors

Non-Fiction | Fiction | Romance

Non-Fiction

JOHN AMATO is the creator of the award winning blog www.CrooksandLiars.com TIME Magazine awarded a very prestigious honor to Crooksandliars, honoring them as one of the TOP 25 blogs of the year. Nielson reported that of the ten most linked blog posts, Crooksandliars had four of them. C&L has been featured in the NY Times, Forbes, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and the Huffington Post. Amato has also won the coveted "Bloggie" awards for Best Political blog of 2008. He has been a frequent guest on MSNBC, CNN and E Entertainment.

A professional sax and flutist, Amato has played with or recorded for The Goo Goo Dolls, Ringo Starr, Duran Duran, The Knack, Eddie Money, John Taylor, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagen of Velvet Revolver/Guns and Roses, Ronnie Montrose, Glen Hughes of Deep Purple and Elliot Easton of The Cars.

Edgar Award winning author KEN ARMSTRONG is an investigative reporter at The Seattle Times. He previously worked at the Chicago Tribune, where he co-wrote six series on criminal justice issues, including an investigation of capital cases that helped prompt the Illinois governor to suspend executions and then empty Death Row. Armstrong has been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and the McGraw Professor in Writing at Princeton University. His work in Chicago, with fellow reporter Steve Mills, is featured in Bruce Shapiro's book, Shaking the Foundations: 200 years of Investigative Journalism in America. He has twice won the George Polk Award and is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His other awards include the Worth Bingham; IRE; ASNE Distinguished Writing Award; Silver Gavel; Scripps Howard Public Service, SDX Public Service and the Casey Medal.

His book, with co-author Nick Perry, Scoreboard, Baby won a 2011 Edgar Award and shows how a community's blind embrace of a college football team compromised judges, prosecutors, police agencies, a proud university and the media. Armstrong lives in Seattle with his wife and two children.

MELBA PATTILLO BEALS is one of the Little Rock Nine. At 15, Melba Pattillo and 8 other black students faced the wrath of segragionists and the Govenor of Arkansas to become the first black students to enter Central High School. The civil rights battle which erupted rocked this country, put the world on edge and set Melba's life forever on a different course. She faced angry, rampant killer mobs and renegade police who forced then-President Eisenhower to send combat-ready soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division to protect the lives of the nine students. In 1998, for their courage and self-sacrifice, the Congress of the United States awarded the Little Rock Nine America's top civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal. Other recipients of this rarely given honor - just over 300 in the history of the nation - include President George Washington, the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, President Harry S. Truman, General Colin Powell and Mother Teresa.

Melba worked as a news reporter for San Francisco's public television station, KQED, and for the NBC affiliate, KRON-TV. She has written numerous articles for periodicals including People, Essence, and the San Francisco Examiner. Her bestselling books that chronicle her experiences, Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock Central High School and its sequel White is a State of Mind: Freedom is Yours to Choose have provided inspirational reading for millions. Her bestselling primer on public relations Expose Yourself: Using The Power of Public Relations to Promote Your Business and Yourself is an acknowledged industry reference. Photo: Brandon Davis.

ELI BERMAN is an associate professor of economics at UC San Diego and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research interests include economic development and conflict, the economics of religion, labor economics, technological change, economic demography, and applied econometrics. Recent grants from the National Science Foundation (2002 and 2005) have enabled him to look closely at relationships between religion and fertility from an economic standpoint.

His latest publications are "Religion, Terrorism, and Public Goods: Testing the Club Model" (with David Laitin) in the Journal of Public Economics (2008), and "The Economics of Religion," in the New Palgrave Encyclopedia of Economics (with Laurence Iannaccone). Berman received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. His book Radical, Religious and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism is forthcoming in Fall 2009 from the MIT Press.

DR. JO BOALER is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University. She was also the chair of the Curriculum and Teacher Education area group. Professor Boaler is a former secondary school teacher of mathematics and has taught in diverse, inner London comprehensive schools, across the 11-18 age range. Her PhD won the national award for educational research in the UK, and she is the author of numerous articles and seven books. Professor Boaler specializes in the impact of different mathematics teaching approaches upon student understanding, achievement and equity. Her book: Experiencing School Mathematics won the 'Outstanding Book of the Year' award for education in Britain. She is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain), a former president of the International Organisation for Women and Mathematics Education (IOWME) and a recipient of an 'Early Career Award' from the National Science Foundation in the US.

Her book What's Math Got to Do With It? (Viking/Penguin 2008) aims to increase public understanding of the importance of mathematics, and the nature of teaching and learning. She is currently working with members of the British Government and with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust to bring effective research based approaches into schools. Please visit her website at http://ed.stanford.edu/faculty/joboaler.

DR. WALTER M. BORTZ II is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and a graduate of Williams College and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Recognized as one of America's most distinguished scientific experts on aging and longevity, Dr. Walter Bortz's research has focused on the importance of physical exercise in the promotion of robust aging. Dr. Bortz has published over 130 medical articles and authored numerous books, including 100 Healthy Years, We Live Too Short and Die Too Long, Dare to Be 100, and Living Longer for Dummies, and Diabetes Danger. Dr. Bortz is past co-chairman of the American Medical Association's Task Force on Aging, former President of The American Geriatric Society and is currently Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation, as well as a Senior Advisor to Healthy Silicon Valley, a community collaborative effort which addresses the soaring incidence of obesity and diabetes.

BRAD BOTKIN is a staff editor at CBSSports.com and a senior writer at Rylin Media, a sports publishing company that has sold more than 500,000 commemorative, first-to-market championship books. Brad is also a consultant and contributing writer for the United States Olympic Committee, and in addition to ghostwriting the life story of three-time lottery winner Audrey Garlick, he recently authored his debut novel. Since graduating from Sonoma State University in 2003, Brad has worked at both newspapers and magazines as a sports writer/editor while also freelancing for various websites and publications, including ESPN the Magazine. In 2008. he was selected as a finalist in California’s CNPA Better Newspaper Writers contest.

KAY BRATT a mother of two daughters, is an author and advocate of orphans in China. After founding a volunteer group and working in a Chinese orphanage for over four years, Kay was inspired to publish her memoir, Silent Tears; A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage. Her book will be published with Amazon Encore in early 2010. Utilizing her platform of readers, Kay continues to raise awareness and advocate for children in China's orphanages. In China, Kay was honored with the 2006 Pride of the City award for the humanitarian work she did on behalf of orphans. Now residing in the United States, Kay brings the adoption community together to meet the needs of waiting children in China and is the founder of the Mifan Mommy Club, an online group of individuals who provide rice for children in Chinese orphanages. Visit http://www.kaybratt.com.

MARK CHANGIZI is a scientist with expertise in theoretical neurobiology, vision, cognitive science, and language. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.com and Wired.com. In 2002, he won a prestigious Sloan-Swartz Fellowship at Caltech, and since 2007 he has been an assistant professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

His research aims to grasp the ultimate foundations underlying why we think, feel and see as we do. Focusing on "why" questions, he has made important discoveries on why we see in color, why we see illusions, why we have forward-facing eyes, why letters are shaped as they are, why the brain is organized as it is, why animals have as many limbs and fingers as they do, and why the dictionary is organized as it is. He has more than thirty scientific journal articles, some of which have been covered in news venues such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, USA Today, Time Magazine, Reuters, ABC News, Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, Scientific American, Wired, Discover Magazine and Live Science. He has written three books, HARNESSED: How Language and Music Mimicked Nature and Transformed Ape to Man (Benbella 2011), THE VISION REVOLUTION (Benbella, 2009) and THE BRAIN FROM 25,000 FEET (Kluwer, 2003). Photo: Mark McCarty, Rensselaer.

Originally from Charleston, S.C., STUART H. COLEMAN moved to Hawaii in 1993, and he's been teaching, writing and surfing ever since. Coleman has taught at St. Alban's School, Punahou School, Iolani School, Hawaii Pacific University and the East-West Center. He is the author of the award-winning book Eddie Would Go (www.eddiewouldgo.com), and his writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Men's Journal, Salon.com, Sierra Magazine, Surfer's Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, Honolulu Magazine, Hawaii Magazine and Charleston Magazine. Coleman currently works as the Hawaiian Islands Field Coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation (www.surfrider.org).

CAROL SORET COPE is an attorney and the author of three books: Murder on the High Seas: The True Story of the Joe Cool's Tragic Final Voyage (Berkley); In the Fast Lane: A True Story of Murder in Miami (Simon & Schuster) and Stranger Danger: How to Keep Your Child Safe (Andrews McMeel).

ANTHONY “TONY” DESTEFANO is a staff reporter covering New York City legal affairs and criminal justice for Newsday newspaper. He was part of a team of New York Newsday reporters who won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for spot news while covering the crash of a subway train at Union Square. Prior to joining Newsday, Tony was a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal and Fairchild News Service. Tony has covered a wide range of legal related subjects, specializing in organized crime, white collar crime and immigration. As reporter at Newsday, and for a time as an assistant editor, he covered the trials of subway gunman Bernhard Goetz, mob bosses John Gotti and Joseph Massino, as well as the arrest and conviction of Bernard Madoff in history's largest Ponzi scheme. In addition, Tony spent years researching and writing about human smuggling. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Ithaca College (Ithaca, N.Y.), a Master of Arts from Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI) and a Juris Doctor from New York Law School (New York, N.Y.) He is an attorney and member of the New York State Bar.

Tony is the author of Gloria Estefan: The Pop Superstar From Tragedy to Triumph, (Dutton, 1997), Latino Folk Medicine: Healing Herbal Remedies From Ancient Traditions, (Ballantine, 2001) and The Last Godfather: Joseph Massino And The Fall of The Bonanno Crime Family, (Citadel Press, 2006), King of The Godfathers (Citadel Press, 2008) and The War On Human Trafficking: U.S. Policy Assessed (Rutgers University Press, 2008). Tony can be reached at his website, (www.tonydestefano.com).

HOLLYE DEXTER is the author of Only Good Things and co-editor of the anthology The Shame Prom (Seal Press). Her stories have been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul- Answered Prayers, and Character Consciousness as well as online at Fem2pt0, The Next Family, The Shape of A Mother, Over Fifty Living and iPinion Syndicate, where she is a regular contributor.

Hollye is a singer/songwriter with four albums out. She also founded two nonprofit organizations, running arts programs for teenagers in the foster care system. In 2007, she received the Agape Spirit award from Dr. Michael Beckwith (from The Secret) for her work with at-risk youth. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children. You can find her blogging away at http://www.hollyedexter.blogspot.com, http://www.iPinionSyndicate.us.com, and her politics blog with Amy Ferris, iSane (http://www.sanityprevails.blogspot.com).

DiSalvo has also been a consulting research analyst for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many other public and private organizations in the U.S. and abroad. As a public education expert, he managed several award-winning public health campaigns, including the U.S. EPA's “Runs Better Unleaded” childhood lead-poisoning campaign that reached several million people in cities across the country. He lives in Florida with his wife and three children.

DAVID DISALVO is a freelance science and technology writer for Scientific American Mind. He is also a regular blogger for Psychology Today with the blog “Neuornarrative” and for the Forbes blog “Brainspin.” DiSalvo has published numerous articles, including forthcoming pieces in Esquire, Popular Science, and Mental Floss. He has participated in discussion panels on CNN's Headline News, and his work is referenced in a variety of major publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Reason, Utne Reader and Newsweek.

DiSalvo has also been a consulting research analyst for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many other public and private organizations in the U.S. and abroad. As a public education expert, he managed several award-winning public health campaigns, including the U.S. EPA's “Runs Better Unleaded” childhood lead-poisoning campaign that reached several million people in cities across the country. He lives in Florida with his wife and three children.

PETER ECONOMY is a bestselling business author, developmental editor, publishing consultant, and ghostwriter with more than 50 books to his credit. His books include the bestselling Managing For Dummies (sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide, in more than 20 different languages), The SAIC Solution: How We Built an $8 Billion Employee-Owned Technology Company, Giving Back: Connecting You, Business, and Community, and many others.

For more than a decade, he has specialized in collaborating with thought leaders in a variety of different industries and organizations – from Fortune 100 businesses to universities to non-profits with national reach. As the Associate Editor for the Apex award-winning magazine Leader to Leader, Peter has worked closely with some of the nation's top business thinkers, including Jim Collins, Frances Hesselbein, Peter Senge, Kellie McElhaney, Philippe Kahn, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Peter Georgescu, Wiliam Taylor and many others. Peter is also a member of the National Advisory Council of the Creativity Connection of the Arts and Business Council of Americans for the Arts, and serves on the board of SPORTS for Exceptional Athletes.

Our surveys indicate that the short term effects of being "too nice" in business include a reduction in profits by 8% with even more substantial long term results. RUSS EDELMAN, founder of Nice Guy Strategies, LLC (NGS), has long considered this an important topic. His experience as a business executive and serial entrepreneur, coupled with his own Nice Guy propensity, spurred his interest into how nice guys fare in the business world. Further research led him to formulate a practical framework of knowledge on the subject to help nice guys and their managers. In his new book, Nice Guys Can Get The Corner Office (Portfolio/Penguin 2008), Russ shares 8 key strategies to help overly nice guys become "Effectively Nice."

Nice Guy Strategies, LLC is Russ's third business venture. In addition to serving as CEO of Corridor Consulting, Inc, Russ regularly speaks and writes on key business and technology trends for the finance and IT industries he serves. As a highly regarded analyst, he pushes the envelope in understanding, analyzing, and explaining key industry trends to global constituencies.

NORBERT EHRENFREUND has been a judge of the superior court for thirty-three years, now retired but still on active assignment. He was co-founder and chief trial attorney for Defenders Inc., forerunner of the Public Defenders office. Before co-founding Defenders Inc., Judge Ehrenfreund served for eight years as a deputy district attorney in San Diego. Law was Judge Ehrenfreund's second career. After serving in World War II in Europe as an artillery officer, he worked as a newspaper correspondent in Europe and covered portions of the Nuremberg trials. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, has a Masters degree in political science from Columbia University and a law degree from Stanford. He is the author of three books: You're the Jury; The Nuremberg Legacy, How the Nazi War Crimes Trials Changed the Course of History; and most recently, You Be the Judge.

LEAH ODZE EPSTEIN is the co-editor of the anthology Drinking Diaries (Seal Press). She writes fiction and poetry and is currently working on a young adult novel. Her poems can be found on the website Literary Mama. In her past life, she reviewed books for BookPage and Publisher's Weekly, among other publications. An excerpt from her adult novel-in-progress, Glen Echo, was a finalist in Glimmer Train's Family Matters competition.

AMY FERRIS is an author, screenwriter, editor and playwright. She is a co-editor of The Shame Prom (Seal Press 2012) and has contributed (as an author) to the Anthologies: He Said What? (Seal Press, 2011), The Drinking Diaries (Seal Press, 2012) and The Buddha Next Door (Middleway Press, 2009.) Her memoir, Marrying George Clooney (Seal Press) will make it's Off-Broadway debut Fall, 2012 (Produced by CAP21 Theater Company). She has written for both film, and television, and was nominated for best screenplay (BET) for Funny Valentines (Julie Dash, Director). She serves on the Board at The Women's Media Center (Founded by Jane Fonda, Gloria Steinem, and Robin Morgan), the Board of Directors at Peters Valley Art, Education and Craft Center and Pages & Places Literary Festival. She is on the Faculty of The San Miguel del Allende International Writers Conference and served on a judging panel (Creative Non-Fiction) for the 2010 PEN/USA Literary Awards. MORE magazine named her blog http://www.marryinggeorgeclooney.com one of the ten best for women over 40. Amy lives happily in Pennsylvania with her husband, Ken.

DAVID FISHOF has brought the world some of the most successful and exciting live shows in music and has worked with top rockers including Bill Wyman, Bret Michaels, Brian Wilson, Bruce Kulick, Cheap Trick, Dr. John, George Thorogood, Joe Satriani, Meatloaf, Mickey Hart, The Monkees, Nick Mason, Nils Lofgren, Randy Bachman, Ringo Starr, Roger Daltrey, Roger Hodgson, Slash, Steve Vai, Steven Tyler, Todd Rundgren, Vince Neil and so many more. He has also produced a variety of successful concert tours including Dirty Dancing: The Concert Tour, Dick Clark's American Bandstand Tour, The Happy Together Tours, Classic Superfest, American Gladiators Live Tour, Mortal Kombat Live Tour and the British Rock Symphony with feature vocalists Peter Frampton, Roger Daltrey, Alice Cooper and Jon Anderson. He is also the producer of Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp, which was featured on the VH-1 hit tv series produced by Mark Burnett.

David is the author of Putting It On The Line (William Morrow), the bestselling book on sports and entertainment and co-author of Rock Your Dreams: Turning Your Idea into Reality … Satisfaction … and Cold, Hard Cash. In the sports world, David has represented legends such as NFL greats Phil Simms, Mark Bavaro, Vince Ferragamo, Jack Reynolds, and baseball stars Lou Piniella, Dave Magadan and Randy Myers.

PAUL FROESE is an Associate Professor at Baylor University and a Fellow of the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) who specializes in the sociology of religion. He has a MA in philosophy and completed his PhD in sociology at the University of Washington.

His first book, The Plot to Kill God: Findings from the Soviet Experiment in Secularization (University of California Press), tells the story of how atheism, when taken to its extreme, can become as dogmatic and oppressive as any religious faith. He is also a co-Principle Investigator on the Baylor Religion Surveys Project, and he is the co-author of the forthcoming book Who Is Your God? How Our Diverse Views of God Are Shaping America which investigates American images of God. Dr. Froese and his work have been featured on NPR, CNN, NBC, Time, Newsweek, and USA Today.

BJ GALLAGHER is an inspirational author and speaker. BJ's international bestseller A Peacock in the Land of Penguins (Berrett-Koehler; third edition 2001), has sold over 300,000 copies in 22 languages. Her other books include Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Other Women (Conari 2002); YES Lives in the Land of NO: A Tale of Triumph Over Negativity (Berrett-Koehler 2006); Why Don't I Do the Things I Know Are Good for Me? (Berkley/Penguin 2009); It's Never Too Late to Be What You Might Have Been (Viva Editions/Cleis Press 2009). Her first children's book, What's the Matter with Henry? The True Tale of a Three-legged Cat, has won two awards: Best Gift Book of 2006 from the Cat Writers Association, and Best Humane Communication from the ASPCA.

BJ and her books have been featured on CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer, the Today Show with Matt Lauer, Fox News, PBS, CNN, and other television and radio programs. She is quoted almost weekly in various newspapers, women's magazines, and websites, including: O the Oprah magazine, Redbook, Woman's World, Ladies Home Journal, First for Women, Woman's World, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Orlando Sentinel, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, CareerBuilder.com, MSNBC.com, ClubMom.com, SavvyMiss.com, among others. Contact: www.womenneed2know.com or www.peacockproductions.com or www.yeslivesinthelandofno.com or www.bjgallagher.com

EDITH B. GELLES is the author, most recently, of Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage (Morrow 2009). She is a historian of women with a focus on colonial America and is a senior scholar at Stanford's Clayman Institute for Gender Research (formerly the Center for Research on Women), her haven since 1983. Her first biography, The World of Abigail Adams received the American Historical Association's Herbert Feis Award in 1994. She has edited the letters of Abigail Levy Franks (1696-1756), the earliest corpus of letters that survive by any woman in Europe's western colonies. Her articles have appeared in numerous journals, including William and Mary Quarterly, New England Quarterly, American Quarterly and Psychohistory Review. She lives in Palo Alto, California with her husband and has two grown sons and a poodle.

CAREN OSTEN GERSZBERG is a co-editor of the anthology Drinking Diaries (Seal Press). She is also a writer, editor and co-founder of the Drinking Diaries blog. She writes a column, Mom U., for The New York Times blog, “The Choice,” and her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, and other national magazines and websites. Caren has also taught at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She lives with her husband and children in Westchester Country, New York.

PETER GRAY is a research professor of psychology at Boston College. He has conducted and published research in comparative, evolutionary, developmental, and educational psychology; published articles on innovative teaching methods and alternative approaches to education; and is author of Freedom to Learn (Basic) and Psychology (Worth Publishers), a leading introductory college textbook now in its 6th edition. He also authors a blog--entitled Freedom to learn: The Roles of Play and Curiosity as Foundations for Learning--for Psychology Today magazine. He did his undergraduate study at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences at Rockefeller University. His current writing focuses on the biological foundations for education and on the life-long value of play. His own play includes not only his research and writing, but also long distance bicycling, kayaking, and back-woods skiing.

DAVID HELVARG is President of the Blue Frontier Campaign (www.bluefront.org) and the author of four books, Blue Frontier, The War Against the Greens, 50 Ways to Save the Ocean and Rescue Warriors. He's editor of the Ocean and Coastal Conservation Guide, organizer of several ‘Blue Vision' Summits for ocean activists, and winner of Coastal Living Magazine's 2005 Leadership Award and the 2007 Herman Melville literary Award. Helvarg worked as a war correspondent in Northern Ireland and Central America, covered a range of issues from military science to the AIDS epidemic, and reported from every continent including Antarctica. An award-winning journalist, he produced more than 40 broadcast documentaries for PBS, The Discovery Channel, and others. His print work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, LA Times, Smithsonian, Popular Science, Sierra, and The Nation. He's done radio work for Marketplace, AP radio, and Pacifica. He's led workshops for journalists in Poland, Turkey, Tunisia, Slovakia and Washington DC. He is a licensed Private Investigator, body-surfer and scuba diver.

ALLEN M. HORNBLUM is a non-fiction author who tackles long-neglected and controversial subjects. His books have garnered considerable media attention and have been featured on Good Morning America, the CBS Evening News, CNN, the BBC, and scores of newspapers including the front page of the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. His book, Acres of Skin, is the definitive work on the history of American prison inmates as test subjects for human experimentation.

He is the author of The Invisible Harry Gold: The Man Who Gave the Soviets The Atom Bomb (Yale University Press).

PETER ISLER has been involved in every America's Cup since winning it as navigator aboard Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes in Australia in 1987. He sailed in his fifth Cup campaign serving as navigator for the BMW Oracle Racing Team in 2007. His four previous campaigns were all in the afterguard aboard Stars & Stripes (1987, 1988, 2000 & 2003), winning the Cup twice (1987 & 1988). Peter took a break from sailing and served as analyst for ESPN's Emmy Award-winning coverage of the America's Cup in 1992 & 1995. In Auckland, 2002-2003, Peter did both—sailing with Stars & Stripes and then, once the team was eliminated—he served as analyst for Outdoor Life Network's coverage of the racing. In 2007, Peter joined the VERSUS network's America's Cup team covering the America's Cup.

Isler is the author of Peter Isler's Little Blue Book of Sailing Secrets, Tactics, Tips, and Observations (Wiley), co-authored the best-selling book Sailing for Dummies (Wiley) and wrote a business book At the Helm: Business Lessons for Navigating Rough Waters (Doubleday) with Peter Economy. He is president of Isler Sailing International, Inc. a sports marketing and television production company. Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget.

GENIE JAMES, M.M.Sc., is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Natural Hormone Institute of America. For more than two decades, she has been nationally recognized as a powerful change-agent in the areas of personalized health and integrative medicine. Today Genie's primary focus is writing and speaking on the topic of natural approaches to increasing sexual vitality at any age. Genie and Dr. Randolph are the authors of In the Mood Again (Simon and Schuster 2010), From Hormone Hell to Hormone Well and From Belly Fat to Belly Flat.

JIM KAPE'S love of wood and natural materials began at a very young age when he followed his father to work sites in remote rural Wyoming. As his father wired houses, at the age of 5, Jim was using a woodburning toy to make pictures in scrap 2 by 4's laying around the job site. It was later in life when the load of work and personal life became so heavy that an outlet was necessary. He turned back to wood and the basics of leatherworking. The creative spark that was hidden for so long exploded into sudden brilliance.

Jim's outlet of design and art settled into woodworking and chess set design. His Notre Dame chess set has won awards both in Utah and Arizona, and will soon be published in the Scrollsaw and Woodcrafts Magazine. Jim's other unique chess set designs will be published by Fox Chapel Publishing in his first book. Jim lives in Arizona, with his wife, young son, mother in law, two bulldogs, and several pure-bred cats. You can see what is going on with Jim and his wood addiction at (www.sawdustdreams.blogspot.com).

MICHAEL KOPIEC is a board certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist and fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology who, during three decades of private practice, delivered over 5,000 babies. When injuries sustained in an accident with a drunk driver left him unable to return to the profession he loved, Michael eventually turned to writing. As the first-born child of Auschwitz survivors, his father had years earlier, passed into his keeping the remarkable and inspirational story of his, and his mother's survival. The soon to be published, The Unwilling Survivor is the first part of that story.

New York Times bestselling author and 7-time national bestseller MICHAEL LEVIN has written, co-written or ghostwritten close to 60 books. Three of Michael's five published novels have been optioned, and one novel became an ABC Sunday night Disney movie of the week.

Michael is one of the most accomplished ghostwriters in the nation, having written for private clients focusing on biography, business, sports, and social issues. His client list includes a member of the Forbes 400, four individuals with net worths of over half a billion dollars, and business leaders across the country. Michael has published with Simon & Schuster (three novels and two works of nonfiction), Random House (twice), St. Martin's Press, Beacon Press, Penguin (five books), Putnam/Berkley (two novels), Wiley, and many other houses. He has also contributed to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Jerusalem Post, Writers Digest, CBS News, and many other outlets.

ESPN, NASCAR, and IndyCar Series pit reporter JAMIE LITTLE is an experienced action sports and motorsports reporter, serving as a pit reporter for ABC's coverage of the IndyCar Series as well as ABC and ESPN's coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup series. Little joined ESPN's NASCAR team in 2007 and has covered the IndyCar series since 2004. Additionally, she continues to serve as a reporter on ESPN's Winter X Games. Little's duties also include reporting for NASCAR Now, ESPN's daily news and information program.

In 2004, Little became the first female reporter on pit road for the Indianapolis 500, the oldest and most famous race in the world. She was an event announcer for four years, beginning out of college in 2000 and found her way onto ESPN as a reporter for those series in 2004. She began working on the Summer and Winter X Games in 2002. She is also the co-author of Essential Car Care for Girls (Seal 2012). Photo: Ross Hubbard

JO MAEDER was a radio DJ in Miami and New York City known as “The Rock and Roll Madame” before moving to the Bible Belt to care for her estranged, hoarding mother in serious decline. The life-altering experience led her to write her debut memoir When I Married My Mother: A Daughter's Search for What Really Matters – and How She Found It Caring for Mama Jo (Da Capo Press/Perseus 2009). Her first novel, described by her publisher Heyne as “an erotic comedy,” was published in Germany with the name Venusblueten and is now in its third edition. Jo would describe it as “a neurotic fantasy.” Her essays have appeared in the New York Times and More magazine. She has also been a voiceover artist for several decades and can currently be heard as the imaging voice of radio stations from Krater-96 in Honolulu to the Coast in New York/Connecticut, as well as a variety of events on ESPN. She is now working on a new memoir called When I Divorced My Day Job about her life in radio and that of legendary DJ, and friend, the late Alison Steele “The Nightbird.”

DANIELLE MCCORMICK is the co-author of Essential Car Care for Girls (Seal 2012). She hails from Ireland where she is known for being the bestselling author of this book. She is also the female car representative on Discovery Turbo blog and works with electric car companies to promote more sustainable driving.

Danielle now resides in Silicon Valley where she is the CEO of a start-up company which is helping self-employed service providers get online and giving them the tools to market themselves easily on the internet. In her spare time, she is an avid skier and is the worst crew member of a very good yacht racing team.

JOSEPH MENN is the author of Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet (PublicAffairs). His previous books include All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster, the definitive work published by Crown Business in 2003. All the Rave was named one of the three best books of the year by Investigative Reporters & Editors Inc., the nonprofit professional trade association.

Menn is a San Francisco-based technology writer for the London-based Financial Times. He spent a previous decade covering cyber-security, privacy and other technology beats for the Los Angeles Times. He won a "Best in Business" award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for tobacco coverage and has twice been a finalist for a Loeb Award, the most prestigious in financial journalism. Please visit his website at www.josephmenn.com.

HOWARD MURAD, M.D. world-renowned skin care expert and leading authority on aging, is a board-certified dermatologist, trained pharmacist, and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine (Dermatology) at the Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. Dr. Murad has personally treated over 50,000 patients in his LA based medical center. In 1989 he founded Murad, Inc. (www.murad.com) as a way to further share his groundbreaking skincare formulas, which were among the first to achieve significant measurable anti-aging results without surgery. Dr. Murad continues his innovative research and holds 18 patents for advances in the science of skin health. He has authored numerous articles with nationally recognized publications, such as Cosmetic Dermatology, and three books including The Murad Method, Wrinkle-Free Forever, and The Cellulite Solution. Dr. Murad's products are also a constant feature in national and international publications and have won numerous awards.

His latest book The Water Secret: The Cellular Breakthrough to Look and Feel 10 Years Younger, uncovers the mystery of how to take control of the aging process. Based on three-decades of research, Dr. Murad conclusively demonstrates that the fundamental marker of youthful good health and true age is the ability of the cell membrane to effectively hold and utilize water. This compelling account of his discoveries sets forth an easy to adopt battle plan for optimizing cellular strength, youthfulness and health through an integrated approach he calls Inclusive Health.

CHRIS MYERS is FOX Sports’ only three-sport star- Myers is the host of NASCAR on FOX’s live, on-site prerace program, and he contributes to the network’s NFL and MLB coverage, serving as reporter and play-by-play announcer during regular and postseason contests. In addition, Myers files reports for FOXSports.com from all of FOX Sports’ major events.

In 2011, Myers served as sideline reporter during the NFL playoffs culminating with Super Bowl XLV from Cowboys stadium in Arlington. During FOX Sports’ Championship Season beginning with the 2007 World Series and ending with the 2008 MLB All-Star game from Yankee Stadium, Myers was on the field to capture every championship moment. Those moments include interviewing Red Sox players following Boston’s World Series triumph and interviewing LSU Tigers after they captured the BCS crown in 2008. Myers had the unenviable task of interviewing Patriots head coach Bill Belichick following New England’s loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII and was trackside for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in 2008. In 2010, Myers was tapped to host Showtime’s INSIDE NASCAR series. One of the busiest broadcasters in sports, Myers hosted his own three hour interview show on FOX Sports radio in over 250 affiliates and on Sirius/XM radio entitled CMI: Chris Myers Interview. CMI had the last interview with legendary coach John Wooden and stars from the sports and entertainment world such as Bill Murray and Adam Sandler.

DAVID NEIWERT is a freelance journalist and author based in Seattle. A veteran reporter and editor, he began working for MSNBC.com in 1996 as a writer-producer and remained there until 2000. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, MSNBC.com, Salon.com, the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report, Seattle magazine, and numerous regional publications. His reportage on domestic terrorism for MSNBC won a National Press Club Award for distinguished online journalism. He is also the author and editor of the award-winning weblog Orcinus http://dneiwert.blogspot.com.

Neiwert is the author of The Last Minutemen (Nation 2013), co-author of Over the Cliff: How Obama's Election Drove the American Right Insane (Polipoint 2010), and author of The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right (Polipoint 2009), Strawberry Days: The Rise and Fall of the Bellevue Japanese-American Community (Palgrave 2005), Death on the Fourth of July: The Story of a Killing, a Trial, and Hate Crime in America (Palgrave 2004) and In God's Country: The Patriot Movement and the Pacific Northwest (Washington State University Press, 1999).

BRIAN NELSON has over eighteen years of experience in Latin America and has lived in Costa Rica, Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela. His work on the region has appeared in The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Christian Science Monitor, The Southern Humanities Review and was the subject of a PEW Case Study for Georgetown University. In 2002, after receiving his MFA from the University of Arizona, Mr. Nelson was awarded a Fulbright grant to write The Silence and the Scorpion. Over a seventeen-month period and building on his many connections in Venezuela (some dating back to 1988 when he attended high school there), Mr. Nelson was given open access to many high-level officials in the Chávez regime and the opposition. In addition to his MFA, Mr. Nelson holds degrees in International Studies and Economics. He lives in Baltimore and teaches for Johns Hopkins University.

JOSIAH OBER holds the Constantine Mitsotakis Chair in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. He divides his time and academic appointment between the Departments of Classics and Political Science, and has a courtesy appointment in Philosophy. His most recent book, Democracy and Knowledge: Innovation and Learning in Classical Athens (Princeton 2008) won a PROSE award from the Association of American Publishers. Major reviews have appeared in Forbes.com, the London Review of Books, and The New Republic. He writes and teaches courses on various topics conjoining Greek history, classical philosophy, and political theory and practice. He is currently working on What Athens Was, a history of classical Athenian democracy and why it matters today.

Josiah has authored or co-authored a number of other books, including Fortress Attica (1985), Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens (1989), The Athenian Revolution (1996), Political Dissent in Democratic Athens (1998), Athenian Legacies (2005). His writing for popular audiences includes The Anatomy of Error: Ancient Military Disasters and Their Lessons for Modern Strategists (1990 with Barry Strauss), A Company of Citizens: What the World's First Democracy Teaches Leaders about Building Great Organizations (2003 with Brook Manville). He has held residential fellowships at the National Humanities Center, Center for Hellenic Studies, Univ. of New England (Australia), Clare Hall (Cambridge), Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences , and Univ. of Sydney; research fellowships from the ACLS, NEH, and Guggenheim; and has been a Visiting faculty at University of Michigan, Paris I-Sorbonne 2000, and UC-Irvine. Before coming to Stanford he taught at Montana State University (1980-1990), and Princeton University (1990-2006).

DAN O'BRIEN won the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal to become the first American winner in the sport since 1976. As an Olympic Gold Medalist in the decathlon, Dan O’Brien is officially considered the “World’s Greatest Athlete,” and his name is synonymous with athletic achievement and success both on and off the field. He set a new World Record at the Deca Star Invitational in Talence, France – defeating the 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist Robert Zmelik and went on to win the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, the 1994 Goodwill Games, and three US Championships - all leading to the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal in Atlanta.

Today, Dan is the on-field emcee for every major USA Track & Field event, and he’s also heavily involved as both a host and celebrity athlete for USATF’s Win With Integrity, a community outreach and mentoring program designed to help kids make good life decisions, set positive goals and adhere to a drug-free lifestyle. Dan also works very closely with the United States Olympic Committee as part of its Olympic Ambassador Program, mentoring current athletes in the areas of media training, preparation and peak performance. Dan can also be seen on teamusa.org, where he hosts a Web series called “Can Dan Do It?” Dan has become a highly sought motivational speaker, bringing his inspirational story to the employees and leaders of some of the biggest companies in the world, and over the years he has worked as both a color commentator and guest analyst for networks such as ESPN, CBS and NBC. He will be part of NBC’s 2012 Olympic coverage from London.

DR. TERRI L. ORBUCH (Ph.D.) is a professor of sociology at Oakland University and a research professor at the University of Michigan, Survey Research Center. She is the project director of a long-term study on marriage and divorce (1986 - present), funded by the National Institutes of Health. She has published several articles on marriage and divorce, dating and sexuality, parent-child relationships, accounts and story-telling, and the effects of divorce on children. Her latest book is 5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage from Good to Great (Delacorte Press 2009). Dr. Orbuch also is known as "The Love Doctor®" on radio, TV and in magazines/newspapers across the country. She is the host of "The Love Doctor" talk radio program on the VoiceAmerica network and her relationship segments are aired weekly on Fox-TV Detroit. (www.drterrithelovedoctor.com).

Edgar Award winning author NICK PERRY is a native of New Zealand, where he grew up in a family steeped in newspaper tradition. His late grandfather was a renowned cricket writer who covered the sport for some 60 years.

Perry began his career at The New Zealand Herald in 1998 before moving to Seattle. He has worked at The Seattle Times since 2002 and has covered the higher-education beat for the past three years. Recently, he has written about the runaway debt burden shouldered by today's students, fraternity deaths, and the university provost who was stripped of his title after getting into a shoving match with another administrator. Perry and his wife have two children, aged 5 and 2.

Perry has won a George Polk Award as well as two national honors from the Education Writers Association. He is the co-author, with Ken Armstrong, of the 2011 Edgar Award winning book Scoreboard, Baby.

BARRY M. POPKIN is the director of the University of North Carolina Interdisciplinary Obesity Center and a professor of global nutrition. He has studied economics and nutrition for three decades, and his research has spanned six continents. He has an active U.S. program in understanding dietary behavior with a focus on eating patterns, trends and socio-demographic determinants. This includes involvement in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a study of environmental determinants of physical activity and inactivity patterns and obesity among 20,000 U.S. adolescents examined in 1995, 1996 and 2001. His work also includes detailed longitudinal studies that he directs in China and Russia, and involvement with longitudinal studies in the Philippines, as well as related work in Brazil and several other countries.

Popkin, one the world's leading experts on the obesity crisis, is the author of The World Is Fat (Avery/Penguin 2008) in which he argues that the fattening of the human race is not simply about gluttony, but it is instead the result of an unprecedented collision of technology, globalization, government policies, and food industry practices with human biology. He shows how the clash between our biology created over tens of thousands of years and modern technology, in particular over the last 20-25 years, has transformed the way we eat, drink and move and the way food is marketed and controlled.

SAMUEL L. POPKIN is a professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. He has published in unusually diverse areas. His most recent book is The Candidate: What it Take to Win – And Hold - The White House. He is also the author of The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns; earlier he co-authored Issues and Strategies: The Computer Simulation of Presidential Campaigns; and he co-edited Chief of Staff: Twenty-Five Years of Managing the Presidency. He is equally well known for his work on peasant society, with particular reference to East and Southeast Asia, including The Rational Peasant: The Political Economy of Rural Society in Vietnam.

Popkin has also been a consulting analyst in presidential campaigns, serving as consultant to the Clinton campaign on polling and strategy, to the CBS News election units from 1983 to 1990 on survey design and analysis, and more recently to the Gore campaign. He has also served as consultant to political parties in Canada and Europe and to the Departments of State and Defense. His current research focuses on presidential campaigns and the relationship of public opinion to foreign policy.

C.W. RANDOLPH, M.D., one of the nation's leading physician-experts in the field of bio-identical hormone replacement (BHRT), has treated thousands of women and men with hormone imbalances for more than a decade. A graduate of Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Dr. Randolph is board certified by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as the American Board of Holistic Medicine. Because he practiced as a compounding pharmacist before returning to medical school, Dr. Randolph also board certified by The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists. As the co-founder of The Natural Hormone Institute of America, Dr. Randolph continues to be a frequent speaker for medical and women's health organizations across the country. In addition to In the Mood Again, Dr. Randolph is the coauthor of the best selling books, From Hormone Hell to Hormone Well and From Belly Fat to Belly Flat.

New York Times bestselling author JAMES REED is Chairman and Chief Executive of Reed Global. The company provides recruitment, HR consultancy, training and welfare-to-work services in the UK and internationally. The company's website, www.reed.co.uk, is Europe's biggest jobsite and received over 50 million visits in 2009. It regularly receives over 15 million job applications per year and attracts over one million new jobseekers annually. Prior to joining Reed, James worked at the BBC where he produced documentaries and factual programs.

Reed is a member of the UK Government's National Employment Partnership. He also initiated the Keep Britain Working campaign, which aims to promote innovative ways to preserve and create jobs. The campaign is backed by a broad range of businesses, the Prime Minister, the Mayor of London, all three of the main political parties, the British Chambers of Commerce, and the Trades Union Congress. Reed is the co-author of Hire Education: Employ the Right Mindset to Shape Your Success (Portfolio 2011) with Paul G. Stoltz.

WENDY SACHS is an award-winning television producer and the author of the critically acclaimed book on balancing career and family How She Really Does It: Secrets of Successful Stay-at-Work Moms (Da Capo). Wendy has fifteen years of experience in media, politics, public relations and women's issues. Currently, she is a vice president at Dan Klores Communications in New York City where she represents high profile corporate clients and media personalities.

Previously, Wendy worked as a Capitol Hill press secretary for two members of Congress – Peter Deutsch (D-FL) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR). She then moved to New York City where she worked as a TV producer at FOX and "Dateline NBC." At “Dateline,” Wendy won an Emmy award for her field producing work on the Columbine shootings and received an Amnesty International USA Media Spotlight Award for an hour-long program with Maria Shriver on the international trafficking and sex trade of women. After leaving “Dateline,” Wendy worked as the media director for Larry Ellison's Internet Computer company start-up NIC connecting disadvantaged communities with Internet access. Wendy has been interviewed on NBC's "Today," "Good Morning America," CBS's "Up to the Minute," and FOX's "Good Day New York" among others. She currently writes a regular column about work/life balance for the popular web site Mommy Tracked.com. Wendy lives in New Jersey with her husband Michael and her two children, Jonah, 7 and Alexandra, 5.

ABIGAIL SAGUY is Associate Professor of Sociology at UCLA. She holds PhDs from Princeton University and from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (France). Her research and teaching interests include the sociology of gender, cultural sociology, sociology of law, political sociology, comparative sociology, sociology of the media, and health policy. Her book What is Sexual Harassment? From Capitol Hill to the Sorbonne (2003), studied how and why sexual harassment has been defined very differently in the United States and France and across national institutions, including the law, corporations, and the mass media. Her current book Who Framed Fat? (Oxford) is about the contested meaning of corpulence in the United States and in France, as both a social and health issue.

Professor Saguy has published her work in the American Sociological Review, Law and Society Review, Social Problems, European Journal of Women's Studies, and the Journal for Health Politics, Policy and Law, among other journals. Her work has received support from the National Science Foundation, the American Sociological Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the French Government, the Council for European Studies, and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and has received an article prize from the Sex and Gender section of the American Sociological Association.

ROBERT SBERNA is an investigative journalist whose work has appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines. A native Ohioan, he began his writing career as a police beat reporter at the Ashtabula Star Beacon and the Norwalk Reflector. He has also reported extensively on business, finance, and international relations. From 1999 – 2010, his articles appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Earlier, Sberna worked at a regional Federal Reserve Bank, where he served as a speechwriter and publications editor. He is the author of House of Horrors: The Shocking True Story of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Strangler (TitleTown 2012).

NICHOLAS SCHOU is a Los Angeles Times bestselling author. He is an award-winning investigative journalist with OC Weekly who has also written for LA Weekly, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack Cocaine Epidemic Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), and which has been optioned for a feature length film by Universal Studios and the Los Angeles Times bestselling Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love's Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). It is available at www.amazon.com/Orange-Sunshine-Brotherhood-Eternal-Spread/dp/0312551835/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_1, and his latest book is God's Great Green Highway (Chicago Reveiw Press 2013)

His reporting has resulted in the release from prison of wrongly convicted individuals and the federal indictment, conviction and imprisonment of a Huntington Beach mayor. Last year, Harper Collins included one of his feature stories in Best American Crime Reporting 2008; the same story also won the Best Feature Story award from Southern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He teaches literary journalism each summer at the University of California, Irvine and lives with his wife and son in Long Beach, California.

SUSAN SHIRK is a Los Angeles Times bestselling author. She is also the director of the University of California system-wide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and Ho Miu Lam Professor of China and Pacific Affairs in the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego. During 1997-2000, Dr. Shirk served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, with responsibility for the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia. In this position Dr. Shirk planned and participated in meetings between the Chinese and American presidents and senior officials, and in negotiations on arms control, human rights, and trade, including negotiations on China's accession to the World Trade Organization.

She founded in 1993 and continues to lead the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD), an unofficial "track-two" forum for discussions of security issues among defense and foreign ministry officials and academics from the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and North Korea. Dr. Shirk's publications include her books, How China Opened Its Door: The Political Success of the PRC's Foreign Trade and Investment Reforms; The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China; and Competitive Comrades: Career Incentives and Student Strategies in China. Her latest book China: Fragile Superpower (Oxford 2007) was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.

Dr. Shirk served as a member of the U.S. Defense Policy Board, the Board of Governors for the East-West Center (Hawaii), the Board of Trustees of the U.S.-Japan Foundation, and the Board of Directors of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an emeritus member of the Aspen Strategy Group. As Senior Adviser to The Albright Group, Dr. Shirk advises private sector clients on China and East Asia.

JEFFREY D. SIMON is an internationally recognized author, lecturer, and consultant on terrorism and political violence. He runs Political Risk Assessment Co., Inc., a security and terrorism research consulting company in Santa Monica, California. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Terrorist Trap: America’s Experience with Terrorism. His writings on terrorism and political risk have appeared in many publications, including The Journal of the American Medical Association, Foreign Policy, The Journal of Terrorism and Political Violence, The Columbia Journal of World Business, and The New York Times.

A former RAND analyst, Dr. Simon has conducted research and analysis on terrorism for more than twenty-five years. He has lectured and given workshops on terrorism to university audiences, law enforcement and military personnel, the emergency services, and the medical community both in the United States and overseas. He has also worked with the U.S. Army on many projects, including the Human, Social, Culture, Behavior (HSCB) Modeling Program and the Soft Target Exploitation Fusion (STEF) Program. Dr. Simon also teaches a course on terrorism each summer at UCLA and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Terrorism and Political Violence. He earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. in Political Science from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California.

DR. JONATHAN SPIRO earned his Ph.D. at U.C. Berkeley and is a highly acclaimed professor of history at Castleton College in the Green Mountains of Vermont, where he teaches standing-room-only courses in the Honors Program on race, ethnic­ity, slavery, immigration, the conservation movement, the nature-nurture debate, women's history, and the Mayas.

His book Defending the Master Race traces the history of—and explains the connections between—the eu­genics movement, the conservation movement, and the nature-nurture debate in the United States. Early reviewers have stated that this “brilliant” and “near-miraculous feat of scholarship” should be mandatory reading for all Americans who want to understand such contemporary phenomena as immigrant bashing, right-wing militias, and "angry white males," as well as the origins of environmentalism, anti-Semitism, and the latest advances in cloning, stem cell research, and "designer babies" that comprise the "new eugenics.”

RANDALL STICKROD has enjoyed a distinguished career as a magazine publisher, media executive, and technology executive. Best known as the founder and publisher/editor of Computer Graphics World magazine, which helped launch the vibrant computer graphics industry, he went on to help found Wired magazine, and was involved in the launch of many others. Mr Stickrod was also a co-founder and publisher of The Readerville Journal, a magazine serving book lovers and the literary community. As a writer, he has published many articles in magazines and newspapers on a broad range of subjects including business, technology, nature and travel. His short stories have appeared in Montana, Janus and VerbSap magazines.

Mr. Stickrod was executive vice president of a major technology publisher and currently consults with numerous media companies and the financial community that serves them. He was considered a pioneer in the field of computer graphics and went on to serve as CEO of Miro Computer and Zelos Digital Learning. Since then he has been a strategic consultant to many other technology companies. He has BS and MS degrees in physics from the University of Oregon.

BRENDA STOCKDALE has been the Director of Mind-Body Medicine for Georgia Cancer Treatment Center for over a decade where the latest research in mind-body medicine serves as an adjunct to medical treatment. As the National Program Director for ECaP [founded by Bernie Siegel, M.D.] Brenda designed ECaP's first hospital-based program and co-created ECaP's national retreats for person's with life-challenging illness. She has been featured on Oprah, NPR, other TV talk shows, as well as in a variety of print media. She has also developed a health psychology program for primary care settings specializing in preventive medicine, autoimmunity and stress-related conditions. A leader in her field, Stockdale has taught, presented workshops, and lectured nationally over the last fifteen years for a variety of corporate and special interest groups and her workshops and programs have been implemented in hospital settings, oncology practices and cancer centers. She is a clinician in the field of behavioral medicine, but it is her own experience with life-altering and catastrophic illness that anchors the subject in an intimate way.

Brenda's Bachelor and Graduate degrees in Behavioral Science and Health Psychology are from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and she completed a clinical training program in Mind/Body Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of You Can Beat the Odds: Surprising Factors Behind Chronic Illness & Cancer-the Six-Week Breakthrough Program for Optimal Immunity and is the recipient of a Hambidge Fellowship. Please visit her website at www.brendastockdale.com.

New York Times bestselling author DR. PAUL G. STOLTZ is the world's leading expert on measuring and strengthening human resilience. He is the author of three international bestselling books on the subject — printed in 14 languages — and was voted by Executive Excellence as “One of the 100 Most Influential Thinkers of Our Time.” Dr. Stoltz is a guest lecturer for the Harvard Business School Executive Education program.

In 1987, Dr. Stoltz founded PEAK Learning, Inc., a global research and consulting firm, through which he coaches, consults, teaches, and collaborates with top leaders, thinkers, and influencers within a broad range of organizations from start-ups and NGO's to the Young Presidents' Organization and the Fortune 100 on six continents. As Director of the Global Resilience Institute, Dr. Stoltz oversees a research agenda in 21 countries dedicated to exploring, expanding, and advancing the applications of AQ to strengthen people and their organizations. His research partners include top thinkers at Yale University, Stanford University, and more than a dozen universities overseas. Dr. Stoltz is a frequently sought after resource for the world's top media including CNN, CNBC, Business News Network, NBC Nightly News, Public Broadcast Service (PBS), the Today Show, Sky News, the Oprah Winfrey Show and is quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Investor's Business Daily, Asia 21, Inc., Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Singapore Straits Times, The Australian Financial Review, Success Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Boss Magazine, The Drucker Foundation's prestigious Leader to Leader and other publications.

PAT SUMMERALL, considered by most critics and fans alike to be the premier play-by-play man for network coverage of the National Football League, has been broadcasting since 1962. Summerall's acclaimed partnership with analyst John Madden began in 1981, and they are without question football's longest running and most proficient broadcast team ever.

Summerall was a star place kicker on the New York Giants teams of the late 1950s and went on to broadcast NFL games, including a record 16 Super Bowls, over a career that spanned more than four decades. He also anchored coverage at Wimbledon, the Masters, and other leading sporting events around the world. His voice is still associated with the Masters, which he continues to introduce each year. He also continues to broadcast the Cotton Bowl and other football games each season. Summerall has won every important award in sports broadcasting, and in today's world, the leading award for a sports broadcaster is named for him. In April 1994, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and in July 1994, he received the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. In April 1997, Summerall earned yet another honor for his broadcasting skills when he was inducted into the NFL Alumni's prestigious Order of the Leather Helmet in recognition for his contributions to professional football. Summerall is the co-author of Giants: What I Learned About Faith, Family and Football from Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.

DEBORAH TODD is an award-winning designer, writer, producer, and director in the interactive arena, with 16 published games and 24 published titles to her credit since 1991. She has worked with some of the industry's top publishers and Hollywood studios, including Disney Interactive, Disneyland, Fox, DreamWorks, Discovery Channel, MGM/UA, Columbia, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, The Learning Company, Humongous Entertainment, Broderbund, Mindscape, Houghton-Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, Random House, and Steven Spielberg's Starbright Foundation. Her projects have garnered such awards as the ABA Book Sellers Choice New Media Award, the ComputEd Best Interactive Story Award, Child Magazine's Best Software of the Year Award, Parenting Magazine's Software Magic Award, and U.S. News and World Report's Top 12 Titles of the Year.

Her most recent book is Game Design: From Blue Sky to Green Light, with a forward by producer Jon Landau. Ms. Todd's book on game design was recognized as one of the five most important industry books of 2007 by Game Developer magazine, and was a finalist in the 2007 Frontline Awards. Barnes and Noble proclaimed, “We've seen several books that promise to take you inside game design. A few of them have been excellent, but none are better than Deborah Todd's Game Design: From Blue Sky to Green Light.” Her next book with AK Peters takes a look at the positive influence of video games on society, and is scheduled for release in June 2009. Ms. Todd lives in Marin County, California.

DR. DAVID TOLIN is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the founder and Director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at The Institute of Living. Dr. Tolin is the recipient of the award for Distinguished Contribution to the Science of Psychology from the Connecticut Psychological Association, and an Early Career Award from the Anxiety Disorders Special Interest Group of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy. Since 2003, he has served as a scientific reviewer for the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Tolin is the author of Face Your Fears: Exposure Therapy for Beating Fears, Phobias, Panic, and Obsessions (Wiley) and has been a recurrent guest on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He was a featured expert on the A&E series Hoarders, and is the host of the VH-1 television series The OCD Project.

LANA VEENKER is founder and president of one of the most successful location casting companies in North America. She was one of the casting directors of the Summit Entertainment blockbuster Twilight and has worked with directors such as Catherine Hardwicke, Robert Benton, Sean Penn, Timothy Robbins and Gus Van Sant, on films starring Charlize Theron, Viggo Mortensen, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman, among others. Currently, she casts for the TNT hit series Leverage starring Timothy Hutton. In her free time, she writes and coaches aspiring actors and Twilight fans at workshops and conventions across Europe and the United States. She is also a member of the Casting Society of America and the International Casting Directors Network.

Lana has been featured in USA Today, Wired Magazine, Back Stage, The Hollywood Reporter, AccessHollywood.com and MSNBC.com, on syndicated programs such as NBC's Daytime and Better Homes & Gardens Television's Better, and on Twilight fan sites around the world.

VICTORIA ZACKHEIM is an author and book editor. She is also the creator, contributing author, and editor of five anthologies--EXIT LAUGHING: How Humor Takes the Sting Out of Death (North Atlantic 2012); HE SAID WHAT: Women Write About Moments When Everything Changed (Seal 2011); THE FACE IN THE MIRROR: Writers Reflect on Their Dreams of Youth and the Reality of Age (Prometheus Books, September 2009); FOR KEEPS: Women Tell the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance (Seal Press/Perseus 2008); and THE OTHER WOMAN: Twenty-one Wives, Lovers, and Others Talk Openly About Sex, Deception, Love, and Betrayal (Grand Central 2008), a Canadian national bestseller and the basis of a forthcoming play. She is the author of the novel, The Bone Weaver.

Victoria is also the story developer and screenwriter of the documentary film Tracing Thalidomide: The Story of Frances Kelsey, and screenwriter for More Than A Lord's Daughter: Ada Byron Lovelace (both films with On the RoadProductions). She is an instructor in the UCLA Writers' Program, where she teaches courses in Personal Essay and Memoir. Victoria writes and records commentaries for The Mimi Geerges Show (Satellite/FM and public radio) and is a frequent keynote speaker for educational and non-profit organizations. Please visit her website at www.victoriazackheim.com. (photo: Vicki Topaz).

Back to Top

Fiction

JUS ACCARDO spent her childhood reading and learning to cook. Determined to follow in her grandfather's footsteps as a chef, she applied and was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America. At the last minute, she realized her path lay with fiction, not food, and passed on the spot to pursue writing. Jus is the author of YA paranormal romance and urban fantasy fiction. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald. Her first book, Touch was released in November 2011 from Entangled Publishing. She is currently working on the next book in the Denazen series.

JENNIFER ARMENTROUT lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you've heard about her state aren't true. Well, mostly. When she's not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories....which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary mystery/thriller with a healthy dose of romance. She is the author of the YA paranormal romance Half-Blood series and the YA science fiction series, Obsidian. She writes adult romance under the pen name JL Rogers.

ANJALI BANERJEE was born in India and raised in Canada and California, she received degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Her four novels for youngsters and two novels for adults have been published to critical praise, receiving accolades in several review journals and newspapers including The Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Post Intelligencer, and The San Francisco Chronicle. Her first novel for adults, Imaginary Men (Pocket Books) was a Book Sense Notable Book. The Seattle Times applauded Imaginary Men as "a romantic comedy equal to Bend it Like Beckham" and called Anjali's second novel for adults, Invisible Lives (Pocket Books) "poignant" and "surprising." Anjali's young adult novel, Maya Running (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House) has been optioned for film, and Looking for Bapu (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House) has been nominated for two state awards. Seaglass Summer, Anjali's newest book for children received numerous awards and high praise. Her new novel Haunting Jasmine is out February 2011 from Berkley Publishing. PW said of Haunting Jasmine, “Banerjee's opulent prose is as colorful as Auntie's cherished keepsakes, and gently ironic supernatural elements, such as Jane Austen's ghost telling Jasmine "We love, and we lose, but we can love again", add dimension to a romance that spins refreshingly into a quirky, surprising denouement”. Visit http://www.anjalibanerjee.com. (photo: Carol Ann Morris)

GILLIAN BAGWELL has had a life-long love of books, British history, and theatre, and united these passions in writing her historical fiction debut, The Darling Strumpet (Berkley Publishing) January 2011. She grew up in Berkeley, California, and began her professional life as an actress. She majored in theatre at the University of California at Berkeley, and then attended a year-long British professional acting training program, the Drama Studio London at Berkeley. She moved from acting to directing and producing, founding The Pasadena Shakespeare Company in 1994, and producing thirty-seven productions over nine seasons. She began researching Nell Gwynn as the subject of one-woman show, but realized that such a brief format couldn't do justice to the richness of Nell's life, and began writing The Darling Strumpet while living in London in 2006. Her extensive background in theatre has enabled her to bring viVidly to life the theatrical conditions and performances of Nell's time. Gillian's next novel The September Queen is out in Fall 2011. Visit http://www.gillianbagwell.com

Growing up in a converted 1890s funeral home fueled DAKOTA BANKS' interest in the paranormal. Although no ghost whisperer, she keeps an open mind. Dakota has been fascinated by archaelogy. The premise for her series The Mortal Path (Harper Collins) came from the looting of the National Museum of Iraq for three days in 2003. Hundreds of irreplaceable treasures were lost, including those from Sumeria, during which so many inventions arose: written communication, a number system, timekeeping with hours and seconds, the first wheeled vehicles, metallurgy, the calendar, and the kiln. Sumer is now present-day Iraq. Dakota played the writer's what if? game. What if artifacts weren't the only survivors from the Sumerian civilization? What if something remained that didn't have the best interest of humans at heart? The Mortal Path burst into existence, with Maliha Crayne (pronounced Ma-LIE-ah) as the character straddling past and present.

Dakota lives in suburban St. Louis with her husband, two sons, and two cats. She is a member of the International Thriller Writers, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Horror Writers Association, and Mystery Writers of America. Please visit her website at www.dakota-banks.com.

Tracy Bilen is a high school French and Spanish teacher in Michigan where she lives with her husband and two children. Before moving to Michigan, Tracy taught at a ski school for high school students in Vermont (Spanish, not skiing!). In college she spent her junior year abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris where she lived in a dorm run by nuns (and where she had to run down four flights of stairs to take a phone call). She enjoys cross-country skiing and walks in the woods. Her debut young adult novel, What She Left Behind, will be published by Simon Pulse in Summer 2012. You can visit Tracy's website at http://www.tracybilen.com

A love of storytelling and a desire to follow humbly in the footsteps of the great Southern writers prompted LYNNE BRYANT to write her debut novel Catfish Alley, to be released by NAL/Penguin in spring 2011. Lynne was born and raised in rural Mississippi, where her maternal grandparents farmed cotton and her mother is one of their fifteen children. Catfish Alley weaves together historical and contemporary characters in a fictionalized account of places and events in her home town. Contemporary stories defined by the context of Southern history continue to intrigue Lynne. Hard at work on her next novel Alligator Lake out in Fall 2012, Lynne is currently a college professor in Colorado, but the home of her heart is still the American South.

TERRY DEHART is a former U.S. Marine and NASA security analyst. He is the author of The Winter of God and Man (forthcoming Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group). Three of his stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His short stories have appeared in The Barcelona Review, Zoetrope All-Story Extra, Night Train Magazine, In Posse Review/Web del Sol, Paumanok Review, Smokelong Quarterly, Vestal Review and Opium, among others. Terry lives with his wife and daughters in the San Francisco Bay Area.

KERRIE M. DROBAN is a criminal defense attorney specializing in capital litigation. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars where she studied with playwright, Edward Albee and with poets, Jon Anderson and Carolyn Kizer. In addition to poetry, Kerrie Droban has published two suspense thrillers, In the Company of Darkness and The Watchman's Circle, the latter of which earned the Daphne Du Maurier Award for excellence.

Kerrie is the author of INSIDE OUT: My Life Undercover with the Vagos, with Charles Falco (forthcoming Thomas Dunne), A SOCIALITE SCORNED: The Murder of a Tuscon High Roler (St. Martins 2012), Age of Fire (St. Martins 2009), and the true crime book Running with the Devil: The True Story of ATF's Infiltration of the Arizona Hells Angels, (Lyons Press 2007). For more information, visit www.kerriedroban.com.

GAIL FRASER began her writing career in 2004 with The Lumby Lines, which became the first of the five-novel series published by Penguin Group. Subsequent books included Stealing Lumby, Lumby's Bounty, The Promise of Lumby and Lumby on the Air. With her husband, artist Art Poulin, she co-authored Finding Happiness In Simplicity (Lyons 2012).

Prior to becoming a full-time author, Gail had a long and successful career in corporate America, ultimately holding senior executive and c-level positions in several Fortune 500 corporations and start-up companies. Her path allowed her to work with some of the most respected companies in the world, traveling to twenty-four countries with extended stays in Asia, Europe and Australia. Gail was raised in Rye, New York, and graduated from Skidmore College, with a BA, and the University of Connecticut with an MBA, with graduate work done at Harvard University. Gail and Art live in upstate New York, on a forty-acre gentleman's farm named Lazy Goose, which has been featured in many newspapers and national magazines. In addition to writing, Gail is an avid stoneware potter, heirloom vegetable gardener and cook, and enjoys tending to their orchard and bee hives most every morning even through the winter months.

SHELLEY FREYDONT is the author of the Katie McDonald and Lindy Haggerty mystery series, and the upcoming Liv Montgomery, CELEBRATION BAY FESTIVAL MYSTERIES (Berkeley Prime Crime). She has written several romance novels under the pseudonym Gemma Bruce. Her novella Bah Humbug, Baby appeared in a USA Today bestselling anthology. Her books have been translated into seven languages and have finaled in The Holt Medallion, Golden Leaf, Booksellers Best awards and won second place in More than Magic.

Her first women's fiction novel, BEACH COLORS will be published by William Morrow in 2012. A former professional dancer and choreographer, she most recently worked on the films, Mona Lisa Smile and The Game Plan. Shelley is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Liberty States Fiction Writers. For more about Shelley, please visit her website www.shelleyfreydont.com.

A native Angelino, MICHELE DOMINGUEZ GREENE attended USC, studying theatre and creative writing. She began writing short stories, screenplays and magazine articles with features in the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Animal Wellness among others. Eventually she got up the nerve to try her hand at her favorite form, the novel. Her debut young adult novel, Chasing The Jaguar (Harper Collins), has been nominated for an American Library Association award and is included on reading lists for teens around the country. Her next novel, Keep Sweet,(Simon & Schuster) 2010. She continues to have a very successful career as an actress, having appeared in the NBC series L.A. Law and numerous television and independent movies. She has been seen recently on The Unit, Cold Case, Brothers and Sisters among other top rated series. Michele resides in Los Angeles, CA. Visit www.michelegreene.com.

DEBORAH HALVERSON is the author of two novels for teens, Honk If You Hate Me (Delacorte, 2007) and Big Mouth (Delacorte, 2008). Deborah edited books at a major publishing house for ten years-until she climbed over the desk and tried out the author chair on the other side. Now she writes books for teens and for adults full-time. Armed with a Masters in American Literature and a fascination with pop culture, she sculpts stories from extreme places and events-tattoo parlors, fast food joints, and, most extreme of all, high schools. Deborah lives with her husband and triplet sons in San Diego, California, where she also freelance edits fiction and non-fiction for both published authors and writers seeking their first book deals. For more about Deborah, check out her website www.DeborahHalverson.com. (photo: Theresa Stanton at Design Focus Studio)

EDGAR HOLZMAN grew up in Latin America and has law degrees from both Argentina and the U.S. As an attorney and translator, he has worked for a number of international organizations and was involved in human rights work. He is the author of Malena (Nortia 2012) and his short story "The Big Shlep" has been published in the literary journal Metamorphoses.

ANNA LEE HUBER Anna Lee Huber was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. From a young age, her imagination was boundless. She spent her summers with her brothers playing Star Wars, wearing snow boots and her mother’s old nightgowns while swinging plastic bats as light-sabers, and The A-Team hanging of the riding lawn mower (what else were they supposed to use for the van?). She spent time in South Carolina and Tennessee, where she graduated summa cum laude from Lipscomb University with a BA in Music and a minor in Psychology, before settling in northern Indiana, not far from where she grew up. She wrote her first book in the fourth grade and has been writing ever since.

A love of history, mystery and romance combined to build the plot of Anna’s debut novel. As a musician, and intimately acquainted with the eccentricities of those in artistic pursuits, the idea for her heroine, a talented portrait artist with a macabre reputation, came naturally and sparked to life a whole series. The Anatomist’S Wife, the first book in the Lady Darby historical mystery series will be released by Berkley Publishing in November 2012. Anna is a member of Romance Writers of America. When not hard at work on her next novel, she enjoys reading, singing, travel, and spending time with her family and her troublemaking tabby cat, Pita. You can visit her website at www.annaleehuber.com.

KATHRYN JOHNSON has authored more than 40 published novels, is an Agatha Award finalist and honoree of the American Library Association. Her most recent work of fiction is The Gentleman Poet, a historical novel set in 1609, out from William Morrow in 2010, and her new novel The Fourth Princess will be published by Morrow in 2012. She serves on the Board for the Mystery Writers of America/Mid-Atlantic Region. Founder in 2006 of Write by You www.writebyyou.com, an author's mentoring service, she also teaches at the renowned Writer's Center in Washington, D.C. and speaks at regional and national writers' conferences. Her professional memberships include the Author's Guild, Ninc, Mystery Writers of America, and Romance Writers of America. Having lived in Italy and traveled throughout Europe, and most recently to Egypt, she loves weaving rich historical detail into her novels. Kathryn and her husband Roger enjoy cultural events in Washington but spend most of their summers sailing the Chesapeake Bay in their vintage sailboat, Purr. Her writing partners are her two cats, Tempest and Miranda, who say they prefer dry land.

PATRICK KENDRICK is the Battalion Chief of the Tamarac Fire Rescue in Florida and has been in the fire service for 26 years. He is the author of the thriller Extended Family (Thomas & Mercer 2012) and Papa's Problem which won the Florida Book Award and the Hollywood Film Festival Opus Magnum Discovery Award. He has published numerous articles in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including Reader's Digest, the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, and Broward County's Sun Sentinel. A member of the Mystery Writer's of America and the Hemingway Society, his short story The Bestseller won an honorable mention from the Mystery Writer's of America. Please visit his websites www.papasproblem.com and www.patrick-kendrick.com.

CAYLA KLUVER lives in Wisconsin, where only the hardy survive, with her family and her muse (Nina, her cat). Her Young Adult debut novel, Legacy, was released in hardcover in August of 2009 by Amazon.com as its first title in its new AmazonEncore program. Legacy will be re-released by Harlequin Teen in 2011, with the next two novels in the trilogy Allegiance and Sacrifice to follow in Fall of 2011 and Spring of 2012. Legacy combines mystery, romance, and warring Kingdoms within the context of the Medieval period. Legacy garnered numerous positive industry reviews. It was also honored by the Reader Views Literary Awards, the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, the National Best Books Awards, and the Young Voices Foundation.

In addition to writing, Cayla enjoys such activities as singing, theatre, horseback riding, and hanging out with friends and family. Visit http://www.caylakluver.com.

MARTIN LIMON is is the author of eight novels, including The Joy Brigade , Mr. Kill, GI Bones, The Wandering Ghost, The Door to Bitterness, and Jade Lady Burning, a New York Times Notable book. He is also the author of numerous short stories which have been published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Limon lives near Seattle, Washington. Photo: Michelle Kim Limon.

SHANA MAHAFFEY lives in San Francisco, California, in part of an Edwardian compound that she shares with an informal cooperative of family, friends, and five cats. She's a survivor of Catechism and cat scratch fever, and is a member of the Sanchez Grotto Annex, a writers' co-op. Her first novel, Sounds Like Crazy (NAL/Penguin) is due October 2009. She welcomes all visitors to her website (http:/www.shanamahaffey.com) and is happy to meet with book groups in-person or in cyberspace (phone/webcam/the works).

NEVE MASLAKOVIC is the author of Regarding Ducks and Universes (Amazon Encore). Before that she was busy writing technical papers and finishing her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University's STAR Lab (Space, Telecommunications and Radioscience Laboratory). After much moving back and forth between Belgrade—where she spent her early years speaking Serbian in then communist Yugoslavia—and London, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area, she has settled near Minneapolis/St. Paul. She enjoys the Minnesota weather (even, on occasion, in January). She is a member of the Loft Literary Center and is currently hard at work on her second, as yet untitled, novel.

After her youngest of three children officially slept through the night, KATIE MCGARRY, a stay at home mom, decided to pursue her passion for writing. The news was a shock to most since she graduated from college with a BA in Political Science. She never told anyone, besides her best friend from childhood, that she wrote anything beyond her own name. Katie's debut Young Adult novel, Pushing the Limits, will be published with Harlequin Teen in the spring of 2012. She was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. Writing, as Katie often told her best friend, is cheaper than therapy. Visit Katie's website at www.katielmcgarry.com.

NICK NOLAN While working his way through college, Nick Nolan spent weekends and nights selling furniture; then with his BA in-hand he directed a residential treatment center for homeless and abused GLBT teenagers. Soon after, Nick decided to write his first novel, and spent six years laboring away. “I had no idea what I was doing,” Nolan states, “but I love writing, and knew Jeremy's story would resonate with readers, so I kept at it.” On the advice of NY Times Bestselling Author Kathleen McGowan, Nolan self-published Strings Attached to unexpected success: The book, loosely based on Pinocchio, spent over forty weeks in the Top 10 in Gay Fiction on Amazon.com, and was named 2006 Book of the Year for Gay/Lesbian Fiction by ForeWord Magazine. Two years later his second novel, Double Bound, earned ‘Book of the Year' awards from both ForeWord Magazine and Reader Views. Today Nick and his partner, together since 1987, spend time at their home in Los Angeles or their mountain cabin with their beloved dogs and dear friends. His third novel is on its way. (http://nick-nolan.com)

C.M. Palov is a Washington DC native who decided to put a love of action adventure flicks, her degree in art history, and an obsession with biblical conspiracy theory to good use. The result is her debut novel ARK OF FIRE, an esoteric thriller (Berkley 2009). The sequel, THE HERETIC'S TALE, was released in Fall 2010.

C.M. Palov is a member of International Thriller Writers.

Over the years, EILEEN CLYMER SCHWAB'S passion for writing was channeled through occasional newspaper and magazine articles as she balanced a job and raising four children. With the encouragement of her husband and the blessing of her supportive daughter and three sons, Eileen has finally unleashed the writer within. "I had always thought of myself primarily as a nonfiction writer until one day the ideas, dialogue, and characters in my head grabbed my attention and shook me by my muse. At that moment, a fiction writer was born and I have never looked back." Eileen graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in Communication. She resides with her family in northeast Pennsylvania. Her debut novel, Promise Bridge (NAL/Penguin) out in Spring of 2010 to strong reviews, from Historical Novels Review "a moving story of the power of friendship, trust, and learning to open one's heart to love and new possibilities". Her new novel, Shadow of a Quarter Moon will be out from NAL in Spring of 2011. Visit http://www.ecschwab.com

ERIKA ROBUCK was born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland. Inspired by the cobblestones, old churches, Georgian homes, and mingling of past and present from the Eastern Shore, to the Annapolis City Dock, to the Baltimore Harbor, her passion for history is well nourished. Her first novel, RECEIVE ME FALLING, is a best books awards finalist in historical fiction from USA Book News, and her second novel, HEMINGWAY'S GIRL, has been acquired by NAL/Penguin and is scheduled for publication in September, 2012.

Erika is a contributor to popular fiction blog, Writer Unboxed, has guest blogged on Jane Friedman's There Are No Rules, and maintains her own blog called Muse. She is a member of the Maryland Writer's Association, The Hemingway Society, and The Historical Novel Society. She spends her time on the East Coast with her husband and three sons.

www.erikarobuck.com

LYNN SHEENE grew up in the mountains of Colorado, pen in hand, gazing through the quaking aspen trees and dreaming of far off places and eras. Her passion for stories came early from her book-loving parents and poet grandfather.

After graduating from University of California, Santa Barbara and working as an environmental consultant and science writer, Lynn turned to her dream of fiction writing. Her longtime love of Paris and the 1930's and 1940's intersected with the discovery of a French Art Deco brooch. Captivated by the jewel's possible wartime past in Occupied France, Lynn began to study this intriguing and dangerous time through research trips, memoirs and news accounts. THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS is her first novel, a story inspired by the everyday patriots who risked their lives for the country they loved.

Lynn is a member of International Thriller Writers, Romance Writers of America and Alliance Française. In addition to writing, Lynn enjoys travel, film, photography, art deco, and all things French. She lives in Southern California with her husband and dog.

She is currently working on her next novel set in wartime France.

MARIVI SOLIVEN BLANCO is the author of In the Service of Secrets (NAL). When not working on her second novel, Marivi's day job as a telephonic interpreter enables her to eavesdrop on Filipinos with limited English skills around the world. She has authored 15 books, 10 of them for children. Awards include the 1998 Philippines Free Press Grand Prize for fiction and two silver medals for children's fiction from the Carlos Palanca Memorial awards in Literature. Suddenly Stateside, her book of immigrant essays was short-listed for the National Book Award in the Philippines. Her most recently published book, Spooky Mo, is a collection of horror stories. She has served on the board of San Diego Writers, Ink, since 2009.

Pacific Northwest native ELSA WATSON has always loved animals. After raising chickens and inoculating goats in the Peace Corps in West Africa, she and her husband moved to an island near Seattle where they've filled their lives with dogs, more chickens, and the cat they brought home from their travels. She currently works at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, a wildlife hospital and education center. Elsa is the author of MAID MARIAN (Crown, 2004; Three Rivers Press, 2005), a re-telling of the Robin Hood legend. Her novel DOG DAYS will be published by Tor-Forge in May 2012, followed by THE LOVE DOG in the spring of 2013. To learn more, Visit http://www.elsawatson.net

Back to Top

Romance Fiction

MARINA ADAIR writes contemporary romance where the towns are small, the personalities are big, and the odds of a love match astronomically high—especially when the little old biddies get involved.

Marina was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Film Studies, and is working toward a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at San Jose State University. She currently lives in the majestic redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains with her husband, daughter, three kitties, eleven chickens, and the occasional wild turkey. Check out her website at www.MarinaAdair.com or become a fan on Facebook: MarinaAdair and follow her on Twitter: MarinaEAdair.

STARR AMBROSE writes contemporary romances about heroines with a confident attitude and a sense of humor. Add a smart, sexy hero and put them together with a little mystery and a lot of sexual tension for a fun romantic suspense adventure!

Starr was born and raised in Michigan, and graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in English. She and her family live in rural S. E. Michigan on a small farm with horses, chickens, cats, and dogs. She enjoys the abundant local wildlife, except for raccoons, who should learn to keep their evil paws off her chickens.

Award-winning author SARAH ANDERSON may live east of the Mississippi River, but her heart lies out west on the Great Plains. With a lifelong love of horses and two history teachers for parents, when she started writing, it wasn't long before her characters found themselves out in South Dakota among the Lakota Sioux. She loves to put people from two different worlds into new situations and to see how their backgrounds and cultures take them someplace they never thought they'd go. Sarah is the author of the Lawyers in Love series, A Man of His Word, The Last Honest Lawyer, and a third book.

When not helping out at school or walking her two rescue dogs, Sarah spends her days having conversations with imaginary cowboys and American Indians, all of which is surprisingly well-tolerated by her wonderful husband and son. Readers can find out more about Sarah's love of cowboys and Indians at www.sarahmanderson.com.

SARA ANGELINI is an insurance defense attorney in the San Francisco Bay area. After graduating from West Virginia University with a Master's Degree in Animal Sciences, she gave up her dream of becoming a veterinarian when she realized that she only liked her own pets. She moved to California with her husband to pursue law school. The Trials of the Honorable F.. Darcy, inspired by Colin Firth's smoldering haughtiness and an insatiable curiosity about what made Mr. Darcy tick, is her first novel. She lives with her husband, daughter, and two dogs.

JACKIE BARBOSA always wanted to be a writer, but she took a few detours on the road to publication, including a stint in academia (she holds an MA in Classics from the University of Chicago and was a Mellon Fellowship recipient) and many years as a technical writer/instructional designer for a data processing company.

She still holds her day job in instructional design, but her true passion is writing steamy romances--both historical and contemporary. She has published several short stories and novellas with epublisher Cobblestone Press. Her first print release, Behind the Red Door, was released by Kensington Books in May 2009.

Jackie learned to believe in love at first sight when she met the man of her dreams twenty years ago and to believe in happily ever after when she married him. She lives in Southern California with her husband, their three children, and an ever-changing menagerie of pets. Please visit her website at www.jackiebarbosa.com.

ANNE MARIE BECKER has always been interested in what makes people tick. With degrees in Biology, Psychology, and Counseling, she translates her experience and fascination into multi-faceted characters and plot twists. Her 2009 Golden Heart® winner of Best Romantic Suspense, Only Fear, will be released by Carina Press in September 2011.

A stay-at-home mother of three young children, Anne Marie reads and writes to reclaim her sanity. She welcomes visitors at her website: www.AnneMarieBecker.com

When NINA BENNETON and her family first arrived in America many years ago, she took one look at the front lawns of her new neighborhood and thought 'Gosh! These Americans are indeed a blessed race. They even got the gods to give them the power to grow trees in perfect geometric shapes.' Inspired, she spent years making her family proud by trying to achieve the American dream—college, graduate school, gainful employment, then conquering the world and winning a Nobel Prize in something. A wonderful husband and three beautiful children interrupted her attaining the last two goals, though the family promised she could resume her campaign once the nest is emptied.

In the meantime, armed with a laptop, a stack of tabloid magazines, and a dog-eared Jane Austen novel, Nina started writing. On the same week that she signed with the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency and sold Compulsively Mr. Darcy (Sourcebooks), Nina went to the local nursery to look for trees with perfect geometric shapes to plant in her yard. She is hard at work on her third novel.

VALERIE BOWMAN writes Regency-set historical romance novels with a focus on sharp dialogue, engaging story lines, and heroines who take matters into their own hands!

Her work has garnered acclaim in a variety of writing contests including the Golden Heart®, the Sheila, the Marlene, the Daphne du Maurier, the Beacon and Great Expectations. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, First Coast Romance Writers and The Beau Monde.

Valerie has a B.A. in English Language and Literature with a minor in History from Smith College and has been writing and editing professionally for nearly 15 years as a technical writer and editor at a computer software company. Originally from Rantoul, Illinois, Valerie lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her two dogs. When she's not writing, she keeps busy reading, traveling, or watching crazy reality TV.

Her debut manuscript, SECRETS OF A WEDDING NIGHT, will be released by St. Martin's Press in 2012. Look for Valerie on the web at www.ValerieGBowman.com or www.twitter.com/ValerieGBowman.

Paranormal romance author KENDRA LEIGH CASTLE has been praised for the way she balances dark fantasy, lush sensuality, and wicked wit in her writing. A 2011 RITA finalist for her book RENEGADE ANGEL (Nocturne), she has also written the acclaimed MacInnes Werewolves trilogy (Sourcebooks) and the upcoming Dark Dynasties series (Forever) beginning with DARK AWAKENING in July '11. Recently called a "rising star" by Romantic Times magazine, she is still trying to figure out how to be even half that cool in real life. A Navy wife, Kendra has lived all over the country but currently calls Maryland home with her husband, three children, three dogs and one obnoxious cat. Find her on the web at www.kendraleighcastle.com.

After being raised in the far and frozen reaches of Northern New York, Kendra ran away with a handsome young fighter pilot and moved all over the country. She now lives in Maryland along with her husband, their three children, two high-maintenance dogs, and one enormous cat. She also has a home on the web at www.kendraleighcastle.com.

ANNA CLEVENGER is an active member of RWA-San Diego and belongs to the Regency-focused online RWA chapter, the Beau Monde. Her previous manuscripts have garnered several awards including grand prize as the highest ranking preliminary round score in the Missouri Gateway to the Best Contest, and first place in the historical category in the Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest. Anna Clevenger lives and writes in San Diego with her husband and children.

EVANGELINE COLLINS resides in Michigan with her husband and daughter. She holds a B.S. in Engineering from Michigan State University and a MBA from Eastern Michigan University, where she graduated with honors. An avid reader, it wasn't until she exhausted her local library's supply of historical romance novels that she decided to try her hand at writing her own. Much to her delight, she discovered a new passion. And she has been hard at work crafting her romances ever since.

Her debut novel, Her Ladyship's Companion, was published by Berkley (2009) followed by Seven Nights to Forever in 2010. Please visit Evangeline's web site at www.EvangelineCollins.com

LECIA CORNWALL was born in Toronto, and now lives in Calgary, Alberta, in the foothills of Canada's beautiful Rocky Mountains, with two teenagers, five cats, a chocolate lab and one husband. After building a successful career as a freelance direct marketing writer, Lecia started her own business when her children were born so she could stay home and raise them. The lure of good books, both waiting to be read and written, was too much. When the family moved from Ottawa to Calgary, she took up writing historical fiction and romance full time. Her stories are filled with steamy passion, sexy heroes, the sweetness of true love, and enough intrigue and plot twists to keep her readers engaged until the very last page. Lecia's first book, Secrets of a Proper countess will be released by Avon in 2011.

WYNTER DANIELS is the naughty alter ego of contemporary romance author Dara Edmondson. She lives in Central Florida with her husband of more than twenty years and their two nearly grown children. They are all the slaves of two very demanding cats. After careers in marketing and the salon industry, Wynter's wicked prose begged to be set free. She currently writes erotic romance for Ellora's Cave, Loose Id and Red Sage Publishing. She is also the author of Protective Custody (Carina Press). You can find her on the web at http://www.WynterDaniels.com.

MARIE FORCE is the bestselling, award-winning author of the Fatal Series from Harlequin's Carina Press. The series includes FATAL AFFAIR, FATAL JUSTICE, FATAL CONSEQUENCES, FATAL DESTINY and FATAL FLAW, with more books planned. “This novel is ‘The O.C. does D.C.,' and you just can't get enough.” (RT Book Reviews, 4.5 stars for FATAL AFFAIR). In its July 2010 issue, RT Book Reviews named Marie a “Future Star of Romantic Suspense.”

Marie is also the author of the following contemporary romances: EVERYONE LOVES A HERO, LINE OF SCRIMMAGE, LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT, TRUE NORTH, THE FALL, THE WRECK, MAID FOR LOVE, FOOL FOR LOVE and READY FOR LOVE.

Since 1996, Marie has been the communications director for a national organization similar to RWA. She is a member of RWA's New England and Published Author Special Interest Chapters.

While her husband was in the Navy, Marie lived in Spain, Maryland and Florida, and she is now settled in her home state of Rhode Island. She is the mother of two kids and a feisty dog named Brandy.

Find her at www.mariesullivanforce.com, on her blog at http://mariesullivanforce.blogspot.com, where she runs the popular weekly Romance & Oreos Book Club, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Marie-Force/248130827909, and on Twitter at twitter.com/MarieForce. Marie loves to hear from readers. Contact her at marie@marieforce.com.

ALLEGRA GRAY is a former military officer--turned English professor--turned homeland defense analyst. One thing she has always been, though, is a storyteller. She wrote her first book at the age of 5 (it has yet to be published). Allegra began her publishing career while teaching in the English department of the U.S. Air Force Academy, but soon discovered that non-fiction, academic work was not enough to satisfy her creative drive. She turned to fiction, and will launch her career as a novelist with Kensington Publishing, with the release of a historical romance, Nothing But Scandal in 2009.

Allegra lives in Colorado and writes novels full of steamy intrigue that interweave her love of history, legend, and romance. Check out her website at www.allegragray.com

New York Times bestselling author LAURA GRIFFIN started her career in journalism before venturing into the world of romantic suspense. Her books have won numerous awards, including a 2010 RITA (Whisper of Warning) and a 2010 Daphne du Maurier Award (Untraceable). Her debut novel, One Last Breath, won the Booksellers Best Award for romantic suspense. Laura currently lives in Austin where she is working on the next book in her popular Tracers series. . Visit her web site at www.lauragriffin.com.

JANICE KAY JOHNSON is a former librarian who is now the author of more than seventy books for children and adults. She's published a children's picture book, six young adult novels and two mainstream historical novels with Forge as well as her romance novels. A six time finalist for Romance Writers of America's RITA award for best long contemporary romance, she won the RITA in 2009 for SNOWBOUND.

Janice is the mother of two daughters, one of whom currently serves in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer while the other recently completed her first novel.

ROBIN KAYE was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge next door to her Sicilian grandparents. Living with an extended family that's a cross between Gilligan's Island and The Sopranos, minus the desert isle and illegal activities, explains both her comedic timing and the cast of quirky characters in her books.

She's lived in half a dozen states from Idaho to Florida, but the romance of Brooklyn has never left her heart. She currently resides in Maryland with her husband, three children, two dogs, and a three-legged cat with attitude.

KC KLEIN read her first novel at age seven and has wanted to write ever since. Years later, after getting a husband, kids, and two degrees, she found herself right back where she started—wanting to be a author. She started writing and was as surprised as anyone when her stories took a turn toward dark and snarky. Today, she divides her time between taking care of her family and driving in circles around Arizona, too busy creating stories in her head to pay attention to mere road signs. Dark Future is her debut novel from Avon Impulse. KC would love a visit at www.kckleinbooks.com or follow her on twitter @kckleinbooks or on Facebook at kckleinbooks.

KIM LAW spent way too many years knowing she was going to someday publish before ever putting finger to keyboard. She earned a degree in mathematics, got married, raised a kid, and worked as a computer programmer, all before finally realizing that if she wanted to sell books, she had to get busy writing. Since beginning her career, she’s earned numerous awards, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart®, and has received praise time and again for her snappy dialogue, sexual tension, and the ability to draw a reader in, making them feel as if the story is playing out right in front of them instead of simply words on a page.

She makes her home in Tennessee with her husband, two dogs and two cats, and looks forward to her debut novel with Amazon Montlake (2012) and her second book to follow in the fall. Kim can be found online at her website www.kimlaw.com, or by following @kim_law or www.facebook.com/kimlawauthor. She also participates regularly at the multi-author blog, www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com.

More than a decade ago, MELINDA LEIGH left a career in banking to raise her children and never looked back. She started writing when her youngest child entered first grade as a way to preserve her sanity. Her romantic suspense and paranormal romance fiction has won writing awards across the country. Melinda is also an avid martial artist. She holds a 2nd degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate, studies Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and teaches women's self-defense. When she's not writing or practicing martial arts, Melinda lives in a chaotic house with her husband, two kids, and too many pets. Visit Melinda at www.melindaleighauthor.com.

ROSE LERNER discovered Georgette Heyer when she was thirteen and wrote her first historical romance a few years later. Her writing has improved since then, but her fascination with all things Regency hasn't changed. When not reading, writing, or researching, she enjoys cooking and marathoning old TV shows. She lives in Seattle with two roommates, four cats, and too many books and DVDs to count." (photo: Jersey Girl Photography)

Born in California and raised in the Midwest, CARRIE LOFTY met her English husband while studying abroad--the best souvenir! Since completing her master's degree in history, she's been devoted to raising their two precocious daughters and writing full time. Carrie's historical romances for Zebra and Carina Press have all received four stars from RT Book Reviews, which declared: "Lofty writes adventure romance like a born bard of old." Soon she'll embark on a new globe-trotting Victorian series from Pocket. Carrie recently began life as Ellen Connor, the pseudonym she shares with Ann Aguirre. Nightfall, the first of their Dark Age Dawning trilogy of hot-n-dirty apocalyptic romances, is available now from Berkley Sensation, followed later in 2011 by Midnight and Daybreak. Visit her website at www.CarrieLofty.com or at www.EllenConnor.com

MARGARET MALLORY, named by Booklist as one of "the new stars of historical romance," is the award-winning author of the medieval series, ALL THE KING'S MEN. Margaret surprised everyone who knew her when she abandoned her career as a lawyer to become a romance novelist. Why they found this startling is a mystery to her. Who wouldn't rather have thrilling adventures with handsome Highlanders than write briefs and memos? Margaret lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, a goofy dog, and a crabby cat. With her children off to college, she spends most of her time working on her new series, THE RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDERS. Watch for THE GUARDIAN in May 2011 and THE SINNER in November 2011. You can find Margaret at www.MargaretMallory.com

ANGI MORGAN is an 11th generation Texan who utilizes her strong heritage to create passionate characters willing to risk everything for the one they love. Her debut novel, HILL COUNTRY HOLDUP, with Harlequin Intrigue (Sept 2010) won the RWA Golden Heart Award and was also the 2009 Daphne du Maurier winner. Angi is also the author of .38 CALIBER COVER-UP from Harlequin Intrigue.

Angi and her husband live in North Texas and spend their free time traveling throughout the country. Check out her website at www.AngiMorgan.com or become a fan on Facebook: AngiMorgan

ROBIN PERINI writes stories of suspense and peril. Of family relationships and poignant emotions. Of passion. She is the author of In her Sights (Montlake 2011), Unwilling Witness (Harlequin Intrigue 2012), and Finding Her Son (Harlequin Intrigue 2012). A sought-after speaker across the country on writing and time management, she is a five-time finalist of the prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® Award. She was on the committee that produced the first edition of the LERA Writer's Guide, an instructional book for writers that has been recommended by Writer's Digest's Romance Writers Sourcebook. Her online workshop with Laura Baker—Discovering Story Magic—-has been praised nationwide and worldwide for the unique and personalized brainstorming the class offers. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense and paranormal romance, and you can find out more information at her website, www.robinperini.com or at www.discoveringstorymagic.com.

CARIDAD PINEIRO is the USA TODAY and NY Times bestselling author of over twenty novels. In 2007, a year marked by six releases from Harlequin and Pocket Books, Caridad was selected as the 2007 Golden Apple Author of the Year by the New York City Romance Writers. Caridad's novels have been lauded as the Best Short Contemporary Romance of 2001 in the NJ Romance Writers Golden Leaf Contest, Top Fantasy Books of 2005 and 2006 by CATALINA Magazine and Top Nocturne of 2006 by Cataromance. Caridad has appeared on various television shows, such as the FOX News Early Edition in New York, and articles featuring her novels have been published in several leading newspapers and magazines, such as the New York Daily News, LATINA and the Star Ledger. For more information on Caridad, please visit www.caridad.com or www.thecallingvampirenovels.com.

KATIE REUS has been reading romance for as long as she can remember, but she didn't always know she wanted to be a writer. After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in psychology and working too many jobs she hated, she finally figured things out. She writes sexy paranormal romance and fast-paced romantic suspense. She signed a three-book deal with NAL/Penguin for a paranormal series featuring lupine shifters battling a radical hate group called the Anti-Paranormal League. She is also the author of Deadly Obsession (Carina 2011) and Destined Mate (Harlequin Nocturne Bites 2011).

She currently lives in the South with her own real life hero and the cutest Siberian husky in the world. When she's not writing or plotting, she enjoys traveling. Thanks to being a former military wife, she has friends all over and loves visiting them. For more information on Katie please visit: www.katiereus.com or find her on twitter @katiereus.

A writer of historical-paranormal romance, ALIX RICKLOFF blends her lifelong love of Austen and Tolkein to create a compelling world of magic and enchantment set during the British Regency period. Romantic Times Magazine gave her latest release EARL OF DARKNESS, a Top Pick and called it “a tangled tale of magic and mystery that won't be easily forgotten” while Night Owl Reviews described it as “magic personified.” The follow-up, LORD OF SHADOWS is set to hit bookstores in July 2011. You can visit her on the web at www.AlixRickloff.com.

VICTORIA ROBERTS writes sexy, Scottish historical romance about kilted heroes and warriors from the past. An avid lover of all things Scotland—simply, she writes what she loves to read. Prior to ever picking up a single romance novel, she penned her first YA novella (never published) at 16 years old. Who knew her leather studded motorcycle hero would trade in his ride and emerge as a kilt donning Highlander wielding a broadsword?

Victoria lives in western Pennsylvania with her husband of 18 years and their two beautiful children — not to mention one spoiled dog. When she is not plotting her next Scottish romp, she enjoys reading, nature and antiques. The first of her debut series, Bad Boys of the Highlands, will be available from Sourcebooks in Fall 2012. You can find Victoria at www.victoriarobertsauthor.com.

With more than 7 million books in print, PATRICIA ROSEMOOR has written 89 novels for Harlequin, Silhouette, Carina Press, Del Rey, HarperCollins and Dell. RT Book Reviews honored her with two Career Achievement Awards and two Reviewers’ Choice Best Awards for her Harlequin Intrigues. Purebred (April 2012) will be her fifty-third Intrigue. She recently edited and published Heaven Can Waitstories of reincarnated star-crossed lovers and the villain who cursed them.

In her other life, she teaches Writing Popular Fiction and Suspense Thriller Writing in the Fiction Writing Department of Columbia College Chicago.

HELEN SCOTT TAYLOR loves reading mythology, fantasy, and anything with a paranormal twist, so it was only natural she should write paranormal and fantasy romance. Her first novel The Magic Knot won the American Title contest, was a Golden Heart® finalist, and was chosen as one of Booklist's top ten romances of 2009. The second book in the series, The Phoenix Charm, was a Top Pick by RT Bookreviews magazine. Helen resides in Southwest England near Plymouth with her husband, her son, two Shih Tzus, and a cat who rules the household with a velvet paw. With the rocky cliffs of the Atlantic coast to the south and the windswept expanse of Dartmoor to the west, she loves to walk in the countryside while she plots her stories. She believes deep within everyone there's a little magic. For more information visit www.helenscotttaylor.com.

AMI SILBER/ZOE ARCHER Ami Silber/ Zoë Archer is an award-winning author and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Writing as Ami Silber, her acclaimed novel EARLY BRIGHT is being reissued by Amazon Encore in 2011. Her BLADES OF THE ROSE romance series, written as Zoë Archer, is available now from Zebra Books. Her sci-fi romance, COLLISION COURSE, will be available Spring 2011 from Carina Press, and December 2011 marks the launch of a new paranormal historical romance series, THE HELLRAISERS. She and her husband live in Los Angeles. Please see her websites www.amisilber.com and www.zoearcherbooks.com.

CHERYL ANN SMITH became hooked on historical romance at age fourteen when she stayed up all night to read The Flame and The Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Her own journey into writing happened much later when one afternoon she couldn't find a book to read and decided to write her own. She worked through a new marriage, kids, and demanding job to pen her first novel and was immensely satisfied to get to, The End. She'd discovered an exciting new career and now writes sexy Regency set romances full time. The School for Brides, her debut Berkley novel, was released in early 2011, with the second novel in the series, Accidental Courtesan, releasing in the fall. You can visit her website at www.cherylannsmith.com.

CHARLOTTE STEIN is the author of Power Play (Harper Collins UK) and has written over thirty short stories and novellas, including entries in The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance and Best Erotica 2010. Her collection of short stories was named one of the best erotic romances of 2009 by Michelle Buonfiglio, and her first novel Control was recently called “...a non-stop crazy hot sex book”. When not writing non-stop crazy hot sex books, she can be found eating jelly turtles, watching terrible sitcoms and occasionally lusting after hunks. She lives in West Yorkshire with her husband and their imaginary dog, and can be found here: www.themightycharlottestein.blogspot.com.

KERI STEVENS was raised in southern Missouri and has lived in Germany, Arizona, North Carolina and Kentucky. Along the way she acquired degrees in writing and German, a romance hero of her very own, three sons, and a mutt who licks her when she speaks German.

Her husband gave Keri her first romance novel to read, which unleashed a passion. Several years and a couple thousand novels later, Keri took up her laptop and began writing her own books.

By day, she is a mild-mannered yoga and Oriental dance instructor. By night she creates mayhem and magic in small-town paranormal romance novels like her award-winning debut, Stone Kissed, coming soon from Carina Press.

To find Keri online, please follow @KeriStevens on twitter, fan Keri Stevens on facebook or visit her at www.keristevens.com.

With a degree in Journalism, PAT WHITE spent the first ten years of her career as a newspaper reporter and public relations manager, and the next ten writing fiction. She is a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice winner for Best Contemporary Romance, and a six-time Golden Heart finalist. Pat is published in single title romantic comedy, romantic suspense, paranormal romance and Christian romantic suspense. She also writes young adult romance and screenplays. You can visit her website at www.patwhitebooks.com.

MARY WINE is the author of over fifteen books with Kensington (Scottish historicals) and Sourcebooks. She also publishes with Ellora's Cave and Samheim and is the winner of a 2008 EPPIE Award for erotic western romance. When she's not abusing a laptop, she spends time with her sewing machines…all of them! Making historical garments is her second passion. From corsets and knickers to court dresses of Elizabeth I, the most expensive clothes she owns are hundreds of years out of date.

Back to Top