Joyce K. (Krohne) Ellis, popped onto this world's scene in St. Louis, Missouri, born into a family with a strong faith and—obviously—a great sense of humor. "I loved the laughter at home and at extended-family gatherings," she says, "where uncles tried to outdo each other with the funniest jokes and puns." So it's no wonder that faith and humor permeate much of what she has written in more than four decades of writing articles and books, including The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman. And it's that quirky sense of humor that makes what she teaches in her writing classes and seminars stick with the attendees, they tell her. One conferee recently told Joyce, "Only you could write a grammar book that's a great 'beach read.'" This woman was referring to Joyce's book Write with Excellence 201: a lighthearted guide to the serious matter of writing well for Christian authors, editors, and students. In 1968 Joyce's family moved to the "tundra of Minnesota," whereupon her St. Louis relatives quipped that "the only reason there are any people in Minnesota is that people move there, their brains freeze, and they don't have the sense to move back." She married Steve Ellis, a civil engineer ("at least most of the time he's civil," she says), in 1969. They have three grown children and seven extraordinary grandchildren. Currently living in suburban Minneapolis, they love sitting by a lake, river, or ocean—reading. Joyce K. Ellis has published hundreds of magazine articles and short stories and 16 books. Her writing has garnered numerous awards, including the ECPA Gold Medallion Award for The One-Minute Bible for Kids. And her picture book, The Fabulous World That God Made was chosen by Focus on the Family as one of their Top Ten Family-Friendly Picture Books. She loves travel, needlework, and making short-term mission trips whenever she has the opportunity.

Today, you might find Elaine Schulte at the gym, observing from the sidelines as young gymnasts take their first tumbles on the balance beam. Tomorrow, she might be sitting a few rows from a stage, watching as kids audition for Christian theater. When you find Schulte, you'll notice she's holding a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other. Whatever kind of book she's writing whether historical fiction, a book for preteens, or an adult novel she feels that research is necessary to create an accurate, relevant story. "I do a lot more research than you'd think," says the author of 27 novels.

Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books, several of them Christmas novellas from Revell, including her much-loved and bestselling book, The Christmas Bus. She also writes many teen books, including the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the TrueColors series, and the Carter House Girls series. Melody was nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books, including the Notes from a Spinning Planet series and Finding Alice, which is in production as a Lifetime Television movie. She and her husband serve on the Young Life adult committee in central Oregon.