This is the part where I’m supposed to brag about all my illustrious accomplishments, but honestly, I’d rather talk about my dogs and brag about some of the things I haven’t done: I’ve never been to prison*, court-ordered rehab*, or splashed across the cover of a salacious weekly gossip tabloid with my ladybits on display**. I’m a Leo, a middle child, and a formidable Trivial Pursuit opponent. I read everything I can get my hands on, from the classics to comic books. I don’t drink coffee because, frankly, I’m high strung enough without adding caffeine into the mix. Here is the true story of how I became a novelist: So I had just started seeing this guy, and on our second or third date, he invited me to be his guest at a family wedding. Being young and free and a bit commitment-shy, I was about to decline until he casually mentioned that the bride was a successful romance novelist. Well, the second I heard that, I had to go. Being a writer had always been my dream job, and I’d never met anyone who’d actually beaten the odds and made the leap into big-time publishing. So I RSVP-ed, sidled up to the bar at the reception, waited until the bride and all her author friends uncorked the good champagne, and then peppered them with endless questions about writing, editing, and landing an agent. They were so funny and encouraging and generous with their time and advice. (And drunk!) Next thing you know, I had joined a critique group and was knee-deep in the manuscript that would eventually become MY FAVORITE MISTAKE. The open bar at that wedding changed my life forever. Oh, and the guy who invited me to the wedding? I ended up marrying him. All together: awww… I live in Arizona in a very cute fixer-upper that my husband and I bought in a burst of can-do, pioneering confidence. We thought it would be fun to embark on a series of do-it-yourself renovations. Yeah. I know. Turns out, replacing baseboard that’s been painted over 15 times since 1958 is not as easy as those Home Depot commercials would lead you to believe. Also, freshly-installed lawn drip systems and “helpful” dogs are a bad mix. Friday and RoxieSpeaking of dogs, here we have the indefatigable canine lawn maintenance crew: Roxie and Friday. Both were rescued from the pound when they were puppies. I think they’re Rhodesian Ridgeback mixes. (Probably. Maybe? Anything’s possible.) Roxie is the brains of the operation and Friday is…well, he’s very sweet. And so indolent he could be mistaken for a piece of furniture, which I consider a very desirable trait in a family dog. I absolutely love hearing from readers, so please feel free to email me, with the caveat that I am often on deadline/on the road/on the ragged edge of sanity, so it may be awhile before you get a reply. Just know that it’s not you; it’s me! Have fun exploring the site, and if you have any questions about my new book, my backlist, or finding an agent…I’ll be right over there at the bar. *Yet. **That I know of.

Laura Caldwell is a Chicago-based lawyer turned novelist. Her first book, Burning the Map, was selected by Barnes & Noble.com as one of The Best of 2002. Following that, A Clean Slate received a starred review from Booklist. The release of The Year of Living Famously and The Night I Got Lucky prompted Booklist to declare, “Caldwell is one of the most talented and inventive...writers around.” Laura began publishing thrillers and suspense novels in 2005. Her debut mystery, Look Closely, received critical acclaim and The Chicago Sun-Times called The Rome Affair “Caldwell’s most exciting book yet…a summer must-read.” The Rome Affair, which centers around a Chicago society couple riding a roller coaster of infidelity, blackmail and murder, pulled Laura into a real-life, highly-profiled murder trial involving a 19-year old suspect forced into a confession and wrongfully jailed for a crime he did not commit. Laura became one of the attorneys who represented the suspect pro bono, resulting in a not-guilty verdict. Laura's newest is an international thriller, The Good Liar. Bestselling author Ken Bruen calls it "a massive achievement." Publisher's Weekly lauds it as "a taut, enjoyable thriller." And New York Times bestselling author James Rollins said, "THE GOOD LIAR strikes like an assassin's bullet: sudden, swift, precise, deadly. Here is a taut international thriller certain to keep readers breathless and awake until the wee hours of the morning. Not to be missed." Her work has been translated into ten languages and published in over twenty countries. Before beginning her writing career, Laura was a trial attorney, specializing in medical malpractice defense and entertainment law. She is published in the legal field and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at her alma mater, Loyola University Chicago, where she teaches Advanced Writing for Litigation. She recently received the St. Robert Bellarmine award for distinguished contributions to the profession and the Loyola School of Law. In the summer of 2008, she will be teaching International Criminal Law at Loyola's campus in Rome, Italy. Laura is also a freelance magazine writer. Her work has been published in Chicago Magazine, Woman's Own, The Young Lawyer, Lake Magazine, Australia Woman's Weekly, Shore Magazine and others. Her work can also be seen in Everything I Needed to Know About Being A Girl I Learned From Judy Blume (Pocket Books, 2007), It's A Wonderful Lie: Truth About Life In Your Twenties (Warner, 2006), Girl's Night In II (Red Dress Ink, 2006) Flirting With Pride & Prejudice (BenBella Books, 2005) and Welcome to Wisteria Lane: On America's Favorite Desperate Housewives (BenBella Books, 2006).

J. Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and International bestselling author of over seventy novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres. Though known primarily for her award-winning and international bestselling erotic romances (including the Stark and Most Wanted series) that have reached as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, JK has been writing full time for over a decade in a variety of genres including paranormal and contemporary romance, “chicklit” suspense, urban fantasy, Victorian-era thrillers (coming soon), and paranormal mommy lit. Her foray into the latter, Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner, has been consistently in development in Hollywood since prior to publication. Most recently, it has been optioned by Warner Brothers Television for development as series on the CW Network with Alloy Entertainment producing. JK has been praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations” and by RT Bookclub for having “cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swopn for him.” A three time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award, JK took home the first RITA trophy awarded in the category of erotic romance in 2014 for her novel, Claim Me (book 2 of her Stark Trilogy). Her books have sold well over a million copies and are published in over over twenty countries. In her previous career as an attorney, JK worked as a clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and practiced primarily civil, entertainment and First Amendment litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two rather spastic cats.

I'm the author of many novels, including my debut, SEE JANE DATE (also available in cute TV movie form to stream); THE LOVE GODDESS' COOKING SCHOOL; and THE BABY SWITCH. I've had two novels published under a secret pen name, but I will happily share if you message me to ask! I'm now writing romances for Harlequin Special Edition. Lots coming in 2023! I also wrote seven Special Edition novels (in the Hurley's Homestyle Kitchen series 2016-2017) under the pen name Meg Maxwell. The Hurley's Homestyle Kitchen series is full of love, romance, sisterhood, relationships, and happy endings, of course. Note: I only wrote these 7 Harlequin Special Titles under the name Meg Maxwell so if you see any other Meg Maxwell novels, that is a different author! I'm a proud mom and animal devotee who lives on the coast of Maine. Hope you'll visit my website: http://www.melissasenate.com

I've written more than 30 books in a number of genres: chick lit, romance, suspense, paranormal and young adult. My debut novel, I Do (But I Don't) was made into a Lifetime Original movie. I grew up in Mesquite, Texas, which for those of you who like livestock shows, is the home of the Mesquite Rodeo. Ironically, Mesquite was named after Mesquite trees, only none of them now exist in the city, which is about fifteen minutes east of Dallas. No, I don't own a pair of cowboy boots, although I do own quite an impressive collection of black shoes. My Dad is a third-generation Japanese-American, and my mom is a second-generation Texan who's mostly English. I went to school at the University of Pennsylvania, only I'm not sure how I got in. I think these days they only accept students who can solve String Theory. Anyway, I majored in English, and because my dad said "and just what are you going to do with an English degree?" I went to work for the school newspaper. After college, I spent four years as a newspaper reporter, working for an overly excitable editor who sent me running anytime the police scanner went off. I was working insane hours for next to no pay. I was actually sent to cover a grass fire on my 25th Birthday. Let me tell you, it smelled bad. I think some mice may have lost their lives. But that was about it in terms of excitement. Happy Birthday to Me. So, I decided after I had taken to hiding from my editor in the bathroom at the office anytime the police scanner went off, that journalism probably wasn't for me. I went to work for a marketing firm and discovered that most everyone else didn't stay until ten o'clock every night writing up their riveting story about grass fires. I also decided that I would take advantage of that free time to write some fiction. That's when I started writing "I Do (But I Don't)." A year later, I finished it, thanks to the help of my friend, Shannon, who wouldn't let me slack off and kept asking me for chapters. And that's how I became a writer. Except that it still feels weird to say, "I'm a writer." I keep expecting to wake up tomorrow and have to go cover another grass fire. I'm married and live with a blended broad of seven near Chicago, where I'm hard at work on my next book!

Librarian note: AKA Jenny Carroll (1-800-Where-R-You series), AKA Patricia Cabot (historical romance novels). Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse—at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs. After six years as an undergrad at Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City (in the middle of a sanitation worker strike) to pursue a career as an illustrator, at which she failed miserably, forcing her to turn to her favorite hobby—writing novels—for emotional succor. She worked various jobs to pay the rent, including a decade-long stint as the assistant manager of a 700 bed freshmen dormitory at NYU, a position she still occasionally misses. She is now the author of nearly fifty books for both adults and teens, selling fifteen million copies worldwide, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, most notably The Princess Diaries series, which is currently being published in over 38 countries, and was made into two hit movies by Disney. In addition, Meg wrote the Mediator and 1-800-Where-R-You? series (on which the television series, Missing, was based), two All-American Girl books, Teen Idol, Avalon High, How to Be Popular, Pants on Fire, Jinx, a series of novels written entirely in email format (Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, and Every Boy's Got One), a mystery series (Size 12 Is Not Fat/ Size 14 Is Not Fat Either/Big Boned), and a chick-lit series called Queen of Babble. Meg is now writing a new children's series called Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls. Her new paranormal series, Abandon, debuts in Summer of 2011. Meg currently divides her time between Key West, Indiana, and New York City with a primary cat (one-eyed Henrietta), various back-up cats, and her husband, who doesn't know he married a fire horse. Please don't tell him. Series: * Airhead * The Princess Diaries * Mediator

Published teen fiction under the name Jenny O'Connell. Although she's written about a reality dating show, a prescient pastry chef, and a woman who inspired an 80's rock hit, Jennifer has not spent hours dissecting The Bachelor, she can barely follow the directions on the back of a Betty Crocker box, and she can only dream of a long-haired, guitar-thrashing rocker even giving her a second glance. While she cringes at the thought of being called Jenny again after all these years, her first teen book PLAN B, was published under Jenny O'Connell by MTV Books (March 2006). Jenny's second teen book, THE BOOK OF LUKE, arrived in April 2007, and her Martha’s Vineyard Novels, LOCAL GIRLS and RICH BOYS, were published in June 2008. Her days as a high school senior may be long behind her, but Jennifer did receive her B.A. from Smith College and her M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. You can e-mail Jennifer at jennifer@jenniferoconnell.com.

Stephanie Lessing began her career as a writer in Kindergarten. It was at that time that she wrote her first introspective short stories, “Why am I the only one with an umbrella?” and “What I wouldn’t give for Missy Cohen’s culottes.” Shortly thereafter, Stephanie found herself in Boston University studying Public Communications and then in the American College in Paris where she was granted an internship at the International Herald Tribune. After graduating from BU, Stephanie landed her dream job at Mademoiselle Magazine as a copywriter and spent all of her money on the most amazing shoes ever. She soon became Copy Chief and traveled cross-country with Mademoiselle editors co-hosting fashion and beauty events, and then she quit because her feet were killing her. After leaving Mademoiselle, Stephanie began freelancing for Vogue, Glamour, Self, American Health, WWD, Bride’s, Conde Nast Traveler and Vanity Fair. It was during this period in her life that she began writing a collection of essays entitled, “A Girl’s Guide To Girls.” Many years later, she turned the essays into a novel, She’s Got Issues, which was published in July of 2005.