After spending many years as a criminal appeals attorney in New York, Tonya returned to the West to focus on writing. She currently lives in her native Arizona with a small menagerie of rescue pets. While working as a lawyer, Tonya developed a passion for ballroom dancing. For several years she wrote a dance blog, Swan Lake Samba Girl, which was lauded by James Wolcott in his Vanity Fair blog, and Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal. Tonya’s first novel, Swallow, a dramedy about a lawyer with the psychosomatic disorder, Globus Hystericus, won several awards including gold medals in the Independent Publisher and Living Now Book Awards. She's also written a romance trilogy, Fever, and a duet, Sasha, both set in the world of professional ballroom dancing. She's currently working on her next novel in the Infectious Rhythm ballroom series, as well as a mystery series inspired by her rescue pets. She recently started a blog, Witty Kitty's Book Blog, reviewing books featuring animals. When not writing, Tonya loves taking road trips with her dog, Sofia, devouring Mexican food, curling up with her cats and a good novel, and watching ballroom competitions.