Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information. New York Times Bestselling Author Deirdre Martin was six when she wrote her first "book,”a Peanuts parody. In addition to penning bad, maudlin poetry in junior high school and serving as the Arts Editor on her high school newspaper, she was also the Arts Editor at her college newspaper at the University of New York at Buffalo, where she earned her BA in English in 1985. While writing for the student newspaper there, she sold her first freelance magazine article and won a city wide play writing contest. Her play, Spin Cycle, about two lonely people at a laundromat, was subsequently performed in a theater space in downtown Buffalo. Ater graduating college, Deirdre worked at a series of trade magazines before landing a job at Soap Opera Digest. While she says it was fun working in a place where she got to watch TV all afternoon, she longed to branch out, and after two years, left to begin freelancing full time. Over the course of her twelve year freelance career, her work appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Seventeen, YM, McCall's, Fitness, New Woman, Bride's, Bridal Guide, Inside Sports, Woman's World, Modern Maturity, Islands, Newsday, and the New York Times. In 1998, her first non fiction book was published: Investing for Retirement (Avon). She also contributed to Lifescripts for Managers, Lifescripts for Employees, and Lifescripts for the Self Employed. (MacMillan, 1999). A fan of the romance genre and of soap opera ("If Dickens were alive today, he'd be writing for a soap," Deirdre maintains), she decided to try her own hand at writing a romance novel. The result, BODY CHECK, was published in March, 2003, followed by USA Today Bestseller FAIR PLAY in 2004, TOTAL RUSH in 2005, THE PENALTY BOX in 2006, and USA Today Bestseller CHASING STANLEY in 2008. 2008 also saw the publication of JUST A TASTE, which made The New York Times Bestseller List. Deirdre returned to the world of the Blades in 2009 with POWERPLAY. 2009 was also when she launched a new series, The Wild Hart Saga, centering around a large Irish American family who own a pub in Manhattan. The first book in the series, WITH A TWIST, was quickly followed by STRAIGHT UP in 2010, and there are plans for at least two more. But the New York Blades keep calling her back: her next book, ICEBREAKER, will be published in 2011. A resident of Ithaca, NY, Deirdre enjoys hiking and biking with her husband, Mark Levine, co author of the financial bestsellers, Die Broke and Live Rich. When not busy lavishing affection on her beloved Newfie, Rocky, she also enjoys reading, baking, listening to music, yoga, photography, and hanging out with her friends from acting class. She's had the same best friend since she was ten and adores the color purple.

Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. Lori has published through a variety of houses, including Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin, Silhouette, Samhain, and Berkley/Jove. She is currently published with HQN. Lori hosts a very special annual “Reader & Author” event in West Chester, Ohio. Proceeds from the event have benefited many worthy causes, including the Hamilton County YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter, the Animal Adoption Foundation, The Conductive Learning Center for children with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, and The One Way Farm, Children’s Home. Each year Lori donates all proceeds from one book to charity. You can see the benefit romance books here: http://lorifoster.com/benefit-books/ Career Highlights •In 2001, Lori received the prestigious Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Series Romantic Fantasy. •In 2002, Lori’s book Too Much Temptation was the top-selling romance title for Amazon books. •In 2003, Say No To Joe was the second “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title for Waldenbooks. •In 2004, Lori Foster was a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle. •In 2004, The Secret Life of Bryan was the “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title for the BGI group. •In 2005, Lori received the prestigious Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Contemporary Romance. •In 2006, Jude’s Law was the “Bestselling Romantic Comedy” romance title for the BGI group. •In 2007, Lori launched a new “urban fantasy” series under the name L.L. Foster. See more on her “dark side” at www.llfoster.com. •In 2007, Causing Havoc was among Amazon’s Top Ten Editor’s picks in Romance. •In 2008, Hard to Handle made #2 on The New York Times. •In 2009, Servant: The Acceptance was Amazon’s #1 Editors’ Pick in Romance. •In 2010, Lori was a clue in the USA Today Quick Cross puzzle.

Okay, so I have to write a new bio because, well, life happens whether you want it to or not. And while I was at it, I decided to answer that question everyone asks me: How did you start writing? The only answer I have is To keep the voices in my head from driving me crazy. Now, you probably think those voices mean I am crazy, except for a couple things. When I write down what they're saying, they leave me alone. And they never tell me to kill or maim anyone. Both of those are definite pluses in my book. So, where do the voices come from? That's a toughie, so I'll start at the beginning. I'm the seventh of nine children, and we are not chips off the old block. We all possess distinct, unique personalities. In the summer my mom would send us outdoors until lunch time (for her own sanity, I'm sure) and we'd amuse ourselves in the woods behind our house, catching tadpoles, sneaking into the orchard next door, tormenting each other. We used to take picnic lunches and I remember this one time we put ants in my brother's mustard sandwich. Not those puny little sugar ants, either, big, fat black ones. Another time we buried his watch in the sand pile behind our house. He's still holding a grudge. Hey, we were kids before cable and video games, we had to find some way to amuse ourselves. So, the voices? Well, I turned out to be that kid who was painfully shy. I was only happy with my nose in a book (okay, and tormenting my brother, but it was my sister's idea, and really, he deserved it), and when I wasn't reading I made up stories in my head. If I'd had the courage and discipline to write them down I'd be the most prolific author ever. So, why didn't I? Life, that's why. Marriage, crafts, kids, crafts, gainful employment, crafts, divorce. And did I mention crafts? I've done it all, ceramics, knitting, macramé, origami, crocheting—I even sold a couple of original patterns. Yeah, I know, the voices weren't impressed either. The crafts didn't shut them up for long, so one day I exorcised them onto paper, and after writing at least a half dozen historicals, the you-sound-too-contemporary comments in all those rejection letters finally sank in and I tried my hand at writing contemporary romance. My first story, Happily Ever After, sold in exactly four days, followed by four more to the now discontinued Precious Gems series at Kensington Publishing. I wrote another four for Harlequin's American series, all nine under the name, Penny McCusker. And then the voices got sassy and took me into the world of life-or-death, car chases, gunfire, and sarcasm, and I'm happily chugging along in that vein as Penny McCall. I realize after all this rambling that I haven't exactly answered the question of where the voices come from, but hey, you'll just have to accept that they exist. I have.