www.holdthatthoughtpublishing.com Iris Karas is an undergraduate and graduate of Northeastern University, where she majored in psychology and community mental health counseling. She has been a high school guidance counselor since 2004. Karas launched her writing career in 1998 during a leave from her brief studies at law school in Ohio. She began work on her first novel, Organizing Elizabeth, while working and raising a family in the Toledo area. As a resident of Western Massachusetts, in 2001 she developed a professional working relationship with her editor, novelist and poet Anna Kirwan. At the completion of Organizing Elizabeth, Karas founded her own publishing enterprise, Hold That Thought Publishing, dedicated to being a resource for writers who are entering the publishing realm. She is currently living in the Dallas area with her husband and working on her second novel, a sequel to Organizing Elizabeth.