The nuns in my Catholic elementary school always said that each of us has a gift, a reason we were put here on earth. Our job is to discover what that purpose is. Well, I knew early on that I was meant to be a writer. Who else would spend her childhood grinding sparkling rocks into fairy dust and convince her friends it was real? Or daydream her way through elementary school, spend high school reading philosophy and playing the bagpipes, and then head off to Spain during college to live the writer's life? After four years in Madrid I straggled back home, broke but fluent in Spanish, and discovered that I'd acquired a marketable skill. So instead of writing, I began teaching Spanish. I also married a Coast Guard Officer and followed him around the country as he rescued ships and saved lives. The years passed. We had two sons. I earned my master's degree and continued teaching, which I really enjoyed. We met interesting people and acquired a quirky dog. But the desire to write kept lurking in my mind. That was my dream, what I knew I'd been destined to do—and yet, I had never done it. Then one day I made a decision. If I wanted to become a published author, I had to stop fantasizing about writing and actually do it. So I began my first book –- and discovered that writing a saleable novel was much harder than I'd dreamed. Fortunately, I inherited a healthy dose of Irish stubbornness, a strong mid-western work ethic and a love of challenges that helped me persevere. So here I am at last, just as the nuns instructed and right where I hoped I would be –- writing stories about characters struggling along their own paths of self-discovery. I hope you enjoy their journey home.

Cindy Dees started flying airplanes while sitting in her dad’s lap at the age of three and got a pilot’s license before she got a driver’s license. At age fifteen, she dropped out of high school and left the horse farm in Michigan where she grew up to attend the University of Michigan. After earning a degree in Russian and East European studies, she joined the U.S. Air Force and became the youngest female pilot in the history of the Air Force. She flew supersonic jets, VIP airlift and the “C-5” Galaxy, the world’s largest airplane. She also worked part-time gathering intelligence. During her military career, she traveled to forty countries on five continents, was detained by the KGB and East German secret police, she got shot at, flew in the first Gulf War, met her husband and amassed a lifetime’s worth of war stories. Her hobbies include professional Middle Eastern dancing, Japanese gardening and medieval reenacting. She started writing on a one-dollar bet with her mother and was thrilled to win that bet with the publication of her first book in 2001.

New York Times and USA Today best selling author Nina Bruhns is an avid world traveler and adventurer with two graduate degrees in archaeology—all great fodder for her stories, giving them broad dimension, vivid settings and characters that are out of the ordinary. In addition to hitting both the NY Times and USA Today bestseller lists, her novels have earned two RITA nominations, and won numerous other awards, including three prestigious Daphne du Maurier Awards of Excellence for Overall Best Mystery Suspense Novel of the Year, five Dorothy Parker Awards, several RT BookClub Awards and a National Readers Choice Award. A native of Canada, Nina grew up in California and currently resides in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.

Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella aka Marie Charles, Marie Michael, Marie Nicole, Marie Ferrarella Marie Rydzynski was born on March 28 in West Germany to Polish parents. She moved to America at the age of four. For an entire year, Marie and her family explored the eastern half of the country before finally settling in New York. Marie swears she was born writing, "which must have made the delivery especially hard for my mother." From an early age, Marie's parents would find her watching television or tucked away in some private place, writing at a furious pace. "Initially, I began writing myself into my favourite shows. I was a detective on '77 Sunset Strip,' the missing Cartwright sibling they never talked about on 'Bonanza' and the 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' before there was a 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,' not to mention an active participant in the serialized stories of 'The Mickey Mouse Club.'" Marie began to write her first romance novel when she was 11 years old, although she claims that, at the time, she didn't even realize it was a romance! She scribbled off and on, while dreaming of a career as an actress. Marie was only 14 when she first laid eyes on the man she would marry, truly her first love, Charles Ferrarella. During her days at Queens College, New York, acting started to lose its glamour as Marie spent more and more time writing. After receiving her English degree, specialising in Shakespearean comedy, Marie and her family moved to Southern California, where she still resides today. After an interminable seven weeks apart, Charles decided he couldn't live without her and came out to California to marry his childhood sweetheart. Ever practical, Marie was married in a wash-and-wear wedding dress that she sewed herself, appliqués and all. "'Be prepared' has always been my motto,"the author jokes. This motto has been stretched considerably by her two children, Nikky and Jessi, "but basically, it still applies," she says. In November of 1981, she sold her first novel for Harlequin. Marie, who now has written over 150 novels, has one goal: to entertain, to make people laugh and feel good. "That's what makes me happy," she confesses. "That, and a really good romantic evening with my husband." She's keeping her fingers crossed that her reader's enjoy reading her books as much as she enjoyed writing them.

Loreth Anne White is an Amazon Charts, Washington Post, and Bild bestselling author of thrillers, mysteries, and suspense. With over 3 million books sold around the world, she is an ITW thriller award finalist, a three-time RITA finalist, an overall Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Arthur Ellis finalist, and winner of multiple industry awards. A recovering journalist who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now calls Canada home. She resides in the Pacific Northwest, dividing time between Victoria on Vancouver Island, a ski resort in the Coast Mountains, and a rustic lakeside cabin in the Cariboo. When she’s not writing or dreaming up plots, you will find her on the lakes, in the ocean, or on the trails with her dog where she tries—unsuccessfully—to avoid bears. For more information on her books please visit her website at lorethannewhite.com Connect with her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Loreth.Anne.... On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Loreth Or via Instagram: lorethannewhite Visit her at www.lorethannewhite.com