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DONNA ANDREWS
Virginia
Although she read widely as a child, especially in fantasy and science fiction, Donna Andrews's love of mystery developed during her college years (particularly at exam time.) In the fall of 1997 she started on the road to publication by submitting her first completed mystery manuscript to the Malice Domestic/St. Martin's Press Best First Traditional Mystery contest. Murder with Peacocks was selected, and won the Agatha, Anthony, Barry, and Romantic Times awards for best first novel and the Lefty award for the funniest mystery of 1999. Subsequent books have also received Agatha and Lefty nominations, and Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon won the Toby Bromberg Award for Excellence (presented by Romantic Times) for the Most Humorous Mystery of 2003. Her latest book in the Meg Langslow series is The Penguin Who Knew Too Much.
Andrews also writes another series featuring Artificial Intelligence Personality Turing Hopper, which was partly inspired by her experience as a translator between the marketing and systems departments at her day job. Andrews notes that in these books she seeks to use computers and other technology accurately without making the action incomprehensible for readers who prefer whodunits to computer manuals. The first book in the series, You've Got Murder, won the Agatha award for best mystery of 2002.
A member of MWA, Sisters in Crime, and the Private Investigators and Security Association, Andrews spends her free time gardening and conquering the world (but only in Civilization IV).
Meg Langslow Mysteries:
Six Geese a-Slaying (A Meg Langslow Christmas Surprise), ISBN: 978-0312536107, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 272 pages, $22.95, October 2008.
Cockatiels at Seven, ISBN: 978-0312377151, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 320 pages, $23.95, July 2008.
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, ISBN: 978-0312997922, St. Martin's paperback, 352 pages, $6.99, August 2007.
No Nest for the Wicket, ISBN: 0312329407, St. Martin's paperback, 320 pages, $6.99, August 2006.
Owl's Well That Ends Well, ISBN: 0312997908, St. Martin's paperback, 352 pages, $6.99, March 2005.
We'll Always Have Parrots, ISBN: 0312939601, St. Martin's paperback, 352 pages, $6.99, February 2004.
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon, ISBN: 0312939590, St. Martin's paperback, 320 pages, $6.99, February 2003.
Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos, ISBN: 0312983190, St. Martin's paperback, 288 pages, $6.99, October 2001.
Murder with Puffins, ISBN: 0312939571, St. Martin's paperback, 320 pages, $6.99, May 2000.
Murder with Peacocks, ISBN: 0312970633, St. Martin's paperback, 311 pages, $6.99, January 1999.
Turing Hopper Mysteries:
Delete All Suspects, ISBN: 0425209028, Berkley paperback, 256 pages, $6.99, November 2005.
Access Denied, ISBN: 0425200650, Berkley paperback, 256 pages, $6.99, December 2004.
Click Here for Murder, ISBN: 0425195291, Berkley paperback, 304 pages, $6.50, May 2003.
You've Got Murder, ISBN: 0425189450, Berkley paperback, 304 pages, $6.99, April 2002.
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MARK ARSENAULT
Rhode Island
Mark Arsenault was born in Massachusetts in 1967. He slouched through public schools, and then lollygagged through Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., with a double major in philosophy and English. He likes to say he graduated 8th in his college class, but that's only because they handed out diplomas alphabetically...
In 1998, Mark got a reporting job at The Providence Journal, where he works today, covering politics and general news. His prison interviews became a highly controversial newspaper series in 2004, entitled "Into Another World." He also spent one year writing about the aftermath of the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people.
When Mark is not at his keyboard, you might find him backpacking up the side of a mountain.
Gravewriter, ISBN: 0312335962, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 288 pages, $23.95, November 2006.
Speak Ill of the Living, ISBN: 1590581393, Poisoned Pen hardcover, 256 pages, $24.95, February 2005.
Spiked, ISBN: 1590580591, Poisoned Pen hardcover, 240 pages, $24.95, July 2003.
FRANKIE Y. BAILEY
Albany, New York
"I don't remember when I didn't write," says criminal justice professor and author Frankie Y. Bailey. "I was a shy child, and it was one of those things that I could do alone. In my teens, I discovered mysteries and wrote my first fan letter to a writer—Richard Martin Stern—who thrilled me to my toes by writing back. I even persuaded my parents to sign me up for the Famous Writers course on short stories. I never finished the course, but I did read the books they sent me on writing. I even have my graded short stories stashed away somewhere."
Bailey attended Virginia Tech and then intended to be a veterinarian, but ended up with a double major in Psychology and English. While serving in the U.S. Army as a food inspector in Seattle, she began to write fiction again. Her third book completed was non-fiction, written after Frankie finished her dissertation in criminal justice at the University of Albany. The research for that book, Out of the Woodpile: Black Characters in Crime and Detective Fiction, led her to mystery workshops and conferences and she began to think again about writing mysteries. Frankie moved back to Albany, where she teaches, and joined a writing group. "That was when I began to make a serious effort to write a mystery that I hoped might eventually be published." The result is the Lizzie Stuart series.
Fiction:
You Should Have Died on Monday, ISBN: 1570723193, Overmountain Press paperback, 208 pages, $9.95, July 2007.
Old Murders, ISBN: 1570722188, Silver Dagger trade paperback, $13.95, 202 pages, March 2003.
A Dead Man's Honor, ISBN: 1570721718 Overmountain Press trade paperback, 218 pages, $13.95, June 2001.
Death's Favorite Child, ISBN: 1570721467, Overmountain Press trade paperback, 218 pages, $14.95, October 2000.
Non-fiction:
Famous American Crimes and Trials (editor), ISBN: 0275983338, Praeger Publishers hardcover, 1500 pages, $375, October 2004.
Blood on Her Hands: The Social Construction of Women, Sexuality and Murder, ISBN: 0534197759, Wadsworth Publishing paperback, 400 pages, $39.95, August 2004.
"Law Never Here": A Social History of African American Responses to Crime and Justice, ISBN: 0275953034, Praeger Publishers hardcover, 264 pages, April 1999.
Out of the Woodpile: Black Characters in Crime and Detective Fiction, ISBN: 0313266713, Greenwood Press hardcover, 208 pages, February 1991.
AILEEN BARON
California
Writing is Aileen Baron's third career. As a wife and mother of four sons, she did all the traditional things until the family moved to Jerusalem for two and a half years while her husband, a biochemist, did research. Upon returning to the U.S., Baron went back to school to study anthropology and archaeology. After her husband died, she received a Ph.D. in archaeology/ anthropology.
Baron taught for twenty years in the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Fullerton. Many years of archaeological fieldwork took her all over the world, but especially to the Middle East, where she spent a year at the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem as an NEH scholar, and director of the overseas campus of California State Universities at the Hebrew University.
After retiring from Cal State, Baron taught a few classes in the extension at the University of California at Irvine, where instructors are encouraged to take classes in other departments. She opted for writing classes.
For the short story writing class, she wrote "Petrie's Head," which was published in a literary magazine called ZYZZYVA, and earned fifty dollars and a tee shirt. For the mystery class, she started a mystery, A Fly Has A Hundred Eyes, about an archaeologist who plunges into a labyrinth of intrigue and danger after the murder of the director of her excavation in British mandated Palestine in 1938. It won first place in the mystery category at both the Pikes Peak Writers conference and the SouthWest Writers Conference. It was subsequently published by Academy Chicago.
The Gold of Thrace, ISBN: 1590584309, Poisoned Pen Press hardcover, 200 pages, $24.95, July 2007.
The Torch of Tangier, ISBN: 1590584325, Poisoned Pen Press paperback, 208 pages, $14.95, May 2006.
A Fly Has A Hundred Eyes, ISBN: 0897335090, Academy Chicago Publishing hardcover, 272 pages, $24, October 2002; paperback, $16.95, September 2007.
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ALBERT BELL, JR.
Holland, MI
Albert Bell, Jr. is chairperson of the History Department at Hope College, and specializes in the history of ancient Rome. He has published numerous articles and reviews in scholarly journals such as New Testament Studies, Jewish Quarterly Review, Classical Journal, Latomus, and Classical World, as well as a number of stories and articles in popular magazines and newspapers, including the Christian Century, Detroit Free Press, Working Mother, and Children's Digest.
In 1988 Bell's first book, a historical novel, Daughter of Lazarus, was published by Abbey Press. He has also written a non-fiction book, Exploring the New Testament World (Thomas Nelson, 1998), which is designed to give non-specialists an overview of the history and social customs of the Roman Empire in the New Testament period. His first mystery novel, Kill Her Again (Author's Choice Pr., 2000), set against the backdrop of an archaeological excavation in Italy, and a children's historical mystery, The Case of the Lonely Grave (Author's Choice Pr., 2000), a story that connects contemporary children with the Underground Railroad and the Civil War era. His latest book is a mystery set in ancient Rome, All Roads Lead to Murder, published by High Country Publishers in 2002 and intended as the first in a series. A contemporary mystery set in West Michigan, Death Goes Dutch, was published by Claystone Books in March 2006. It is intended as the first in a series of Wooden Shoe Mysteries.
The Secret of The Lonely Grave, ISBN: 1932158790, Ingalls Publishing Group trade paperback, 160 pages, $8.95, July 2007.
Perfect Game, Imperfect Lives, ISBN: 1932158413, Almont Books trade paperback, 176 pages, $16.95, October 2006.
Death Goes Dutch, ISBN: 1932158650, Claystone Books trade paperback, 294 pages, $13.05, March 2006.
All Roads Lead To Murder: A Case From The Notebooks Of Pliny The Younger, ISBN: 097130453X, Ingalls Publishing Group trade paperback, 248 pages, $21.95, June 2002.
The Curse Of The Lonely Grave, ISBN: 059512559X, Author's Choice Press trade paperback, 128 pages, October 2000.
Kill Her Again, ISBN: 0595129692, Author's Choice Press trade paperback, 324 pages, $15.95, September 2000.
Daughter Of Lazarus, ISBN: 0595007295, iUniverse trade paperback, 300 pages, $17.95, August 2000.
Exploring The New Testament World: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Jesus and the First Christians, ISBN: 0785214240, Nelson Reference trade paperback, 336 pages, $19.98, June 1998.
Resources in Ancient Philosophy: An Annotated Bibliography of Scholarship in English, 1965-1989, ISBN: 0810825201, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers hardcover, 818 pages, January 1991.
BARON BIRTCHER
Kona, HI
Baron R. Birtcher, a native of Newport Beach, California, and an alumnus of the University of Southern California, spent a number of years as a professional musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He founded an independent record label, and spent 18 years in the commercial real estate business in California.
Baron relocated to Hawaii in 1996 to pursue a career as a writer. His first two hardboiled mystery novels, Roadhouse Blues and Ruby Tuesday, were Los Angeles Times and IMBA Best-Sellers. He has also had the honor of serving as a judge for the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.
Baron currently resides in Kona, Hawaii with his wife, Christina.
Angels Fall, ISBN: 0979372011, Iota Publishing hardcover, 287 pages, $23.95, April 2008.
MICHAEL BLACK
Illinois
Michael A. Black graduated from Columbia College, Chicago in 2000 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fiction Writing. He previously earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Northern Illinois University. Despite his literary leanings, he has often said that police work has been his life. A former Army Military Policeman, he entered civilian law enforcement after his discharge, and for the past twenty-seven years has been a police officer in the south suburbs of Chicago.
The author of over forty articles on subjects ranging from police work to popular fiction, he has also had over thirty short stories published in various anthologies and magazines, including Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. His first novel, A Killing Frost, featuring private investigator Ron Shade, was published by Five Star in September 2002, and was released in paperback by Leisure Books in 2007. The novel received endorsements from such respected authors as Sara Paretsky and Andrew Vachss, and universally excellent reviews.
Windy City Knights, the second novel in the Ron Shade series, came out in March of 2004. His third novel, The Heist, a stand-alone thriller set in Chicago, is Black's third novel. He has also written two nonfiction books, The M1A1 Abrams Tank and Volunteering to Help Kids, which were published by Rosen Press.
He has worked in various capacities in police work including patrol supervisor, tactical squad, investigations, raid team member, and SWAT team leader. He is currently a sergeant on the Matteson, Illinois Police Department. His hobbies include weightlifting, running, and the martial arts. He holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. It is rumored he has five cats.
Random Victim, ISBN: 978-0843959864, Leisure Books paperback, 384 pages, $7.99, April 2008.
A Killing Frost, ISBN: 978-0843959857, Leisure Books paperback, 317 pages, $7.99, October 2007.
Freeze Me Tender, ISBN: 978-1594144714, Five Star hardcover, 346 pages, $25.95, February 2006.
The Heist, ISBN: 978-1594142772, Five Star hardcover, 292 pages, $25.95, June 2005.
KARNA SMALL BODMAN
Karna Small Bodman began her career in San Francisco as a reporter for KRON-TV as Karna Small. She then anchored the news for KGO-TV and covered breaking news stories throughout the Bay Area. She moved to Washington, DC to anchor the ten o'clock news on Channel 5, host a nationally syndicated program and a three-hour news/talk radio show. When Ronald Reagan was elected President, he named Jim Brady as his Press Secretary with Karna as Jim's Deputy. She was immediately thrust into the tough task of explaining domestic policy initiatives to members of the national press corps. But there were benefits, including being involved with the most important issues of the time, almost daily meetings with the President and traveling on Air Force One. Later, Karna became a Senior Director and spokesman for the National Security Council. She attended arms control talks with the Soviets and traveled with the team that briefed the leaders of Great Britain, France and Italy as well as Pope John Paul II. When Karna left The White House to become Senior Vice President of a Public Affairs firm, she was the highest ranking woman on The White House staff. By now, she had written TV news scripts, briefing papers for the President, newspaper columns and magazine articles, but she had always wanted to write novels. She hopes you will enjoy political thriller, Checkmate, as much as she enjoyed writing it.
Gambit, ISBN: 07654319289 Forge hardcover, 304 pages, $25.95, February 2008.
Checkmate, ISBN: 0765315424, Forge hardcover, 336 pages, $24.95, January 2007.
CARL BROOKINS
Minnesota
Before he became a mystery writer and reviewer, Carl Brookins was a counselor and faculty member at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Brookins and his wife are avid recreational sailors.
He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Private Eye Writers of America. He can frequently be found touring bookstores and libraries with his companions-in-crime, The Minnesota Crime Wave.
He writes the sailing adventure series featuring Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney. The third novel is Old Silver. His new private investigator series features Sean NMI Sean, a short P.I. The first is titled The Case of the Greedy Lawyers. Brookins received a liberal arts degree from the University of Minnesota and studied for a MA in Communications at Michigan State University.
The Case of the Deceiving Don, ISBN: 978-1594146770, Five Star hardcover, August 2008.
Bloody Halls, ISBN: 1590805701, Echelon Press Publishing paperback, 260 pages, $13.49, January 2008.
The Case of the Greedy Lawyers, ISBN: 1594143199, Five Star hardcover, 267 pages, $25.95, September 2005.
Old Silver, ISBN: 1929976324, Top Publications paperback, 259 pages, $14.95, February 2005.
A Superior Mystery, ISBN: 1929976171, Top Publications paperback, 302 pages, October 2002.
Inner Passages, ISBN: 1929976010, Top Publications paperback, 262 pages, $14.95, June 2000.
KENNETH BROWN
Utah
A well-known and respected accountant, Kenneth Brown has run a litigation support firm, represented clients in dealings with the Internal Revenue Service and testified many times in court as a professional expert witness. He has experience tracking down and helping to convict white-collar criminals, and has testified in civil and criminal cases. "Just living has taught me what I write about: family and crime," Brown says. "I've seen it all, and nothing surprised me anymore." A lifelong Utah resident, Brown is active in amateur radio, politics, scuba diving, flying and sailing as well as other interests. He and his wife have two daughters and three grandchildren.
Behind the Polygamy Veil, ISBN: 1425721818, XLibris trade paperback, 194 pages, $20.99, October 2006.
Murder at Cheesman Park, ISBN: 1589820606, Bedside Books trade paperback, 286 pages, $22, August 2004.
The Grand Scam, ISBN: 1878647628, APU Publishing Group paperback, 262 pages, $14.95, March 2000.
LUISA BUEHLER
Illinois
Luisa Scala Buehler grew up in the town of Berkeley, IL, a suburb of Chicago. In a small volunteer library, she discovered Nancy Drew. Luisa realized that this would be her career; not girl detective, but girl mystery writer. About that time, her family subscribed to the Sunday paper and Luisa found another fascinating role model in the comic pages, Brenda Starr, reporter!
Luisa spotted the name of a friend from high school in a newspaper classified ad, and was hired on at Wide Scope Staffing Services, Inc.
Her writing skills were discovered when she fell back on her training from the Sun Times and started writing all the company help wanted ads. She offered to write some marketing pieces, promotional material, resumes, and letters to customers.
Through the years that followed Luisa wrote many business pieces, but also short stories, poems, garden journals, and ultimately The Rosary Bride: A Cloistered Death. After submitting her writing for five years without gaining publishing success, Luisa continued to write, starting her second mystery.
The Innkeeper: A Registered Death, Echelon Press, February 2009.
The Lighthouse Keeper: A Beckoning Death, ISBN:159080654x, Echelon Press paperback, 285 pages, $13.99, October 2007.
The Scout Master: A Prepared Death, ISBN:1590804759, Echelon Press paperback, 374 pages, $14.99, August 2006.
The Station Master: A Scheduled Death, ISBN: 1590804589, Echelon Press paperback, 288 pages, $13.95, November 2005.
The Lion Tamer: A Caged Death, ISBN: 1590801725, Echelon Press paperback, 288 pages, $13.99, November 2004.
The Rosary Bride: A Cloistered Death, ISBN: 1590802276, Echelon Press paperback, 288 pages, $11.99, May 2003.
ELLEN BYERRUM
Washington, D.C.
Ellen Byerrum is a Washington, D.C., news reporter, novelist and playwright. She also holds a Virginia private investigator's registration.
Her Crime of Fashion mysteries star a savvy sleuth with a keen sense of style: Lacey Smithsonian. Lacey is a reluctant fashion reporter in Washington, "The City Fashion Forgot." She'd rather be working "hard news," but a nose for nuance, an eye for a great story, and a talent for getting into trouble make her uniquely qualified to tackle the Crimes of Fashion beat. In her vintage suits and killer heels, Lacey trips over fashion clues and fabulous shoes, dangerous women and drop-dead men. And of course the odd corpse (who wouldn't have been caught dead dressed like that). Lacey has appeared in Killer Hair, Designer Knockoff, Hostile Makeover, Raiders of the Lost Corset, and now Grave Apparel.
Lacey and her creator Ellen Byerrum share a fondness for beautiful vintage clothes, a balcony overlooking the Potomac River, and a humorous view of life, love, fashion and the wild and wacky world of Our Nation's Capital.
Armed and Glamorous, ISBN: 978-0451224569, NAL Obsidian paperback, 336 pages, $6.99, July 2008.
Grave Apparel, ISBN: 0451221780, Signet Books paperback, 304 pages, $6.99, July 2007.
Raiders of the Lost Corset, ISBN: 0451219039, Signet Books paperback, 288 pages, $6.99, July 2006.
Hostile Makeover, ISBN: 0451216168, Signet Books paperback, 288 pages, $6.99, August 2005.
Designer Knockoff, ISBN: 0451212689, Signet Books paperback, 336 pages, $6.99, August 2004.
Killer Hair, ISBN: 0451209481, Signet Books paperback, 288 pages, $6.99, August 2003.
ANNE CARTER
Valencia, CA
Pam Ripling, who writes under the name Anne Carter, is the author of five published novels and a variety of fictional shorts. She writes a monthly column for the Chamber of Commerce Valley Business News, and resides in Valencia, where she is also a PTA board member and married mother of three.
She maintains two websites and several blogs, and publishes a monthly digital newsletter.
Pam/Anne is also a serious lighthouse fanatic, and wrote about a lighthouse in Point Surrender. She is currently working on another paranormal romantic suspense and a young adult mystery.
She has published credits in the THEMA Literary Journal and PEACE Magazine, as well as other publications, and has written for young adults, including the novel Locker Shock!, to be published early in 2008.
Point Surrender, ISBN: 1590805145, Echelon Press paperback, 288 pages, $12.99, May 2007.
In Too Deep, ISBN: 1590889657, Wings ePress paperback, 255 pages, $15.95, March 2002.
StarCrossed Hearts, ISBN: 1590889992, Wings ePress paperback, 385 pages, $16.99, February 2002.
DIANE CHAMBERLAIN
North Carolina
Diane Chamberlain was an insatiable reader as a child, and that fact, combined with a vivid imagination, inspired her to write. She penned what she calls a few truly terrible "novellas" at age twelve, then put fiction aside for many years and pursued her education. She grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey and spent her summers at the Jersey Shore, two settings that have found their way into her novels. In high school, her favorite authors were the unlikely combination of Victoria Holt and Sinclair Lewis. She loved Holt's flair for romantic suspense and Lewis's character studies as well as his exploration of social values, and both those authors influenced the writer she is today.
Diane's stories are often filled with twists and surprises and—she hopes—they also tug at the emotions. Relationships—between men and women, parents and children, sisters and brothers—are always the primary focus of her books. She says, "I can't think of anything more fascinating than the way people struggle with life's trials and tribulations, both together and alone. Fortunately, my readers seem to agree with me." Besides winning the RITA, she was awarded the Best Contemporary Novel award, for Brass Ring, from the Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine, and was the recipient of that magazine's career achievement award in 1993 and again in 2001. Diane lived in Northern Virginia until the summer of 2005, when she moved to North Carolina, the state that inspired so many of her stories. She has three grown stepdaughters, three sons-in-law, two grandsons just a few miles away, and two shelties named Keeper and Jet. She says the real joy of writing is having the opportunity to touch readers with her words and hopes that her stories move you in some way and give you hours of enjoyable reading.
Before the Storm, ISBN: 978-0778325413, Mira Books paperback, 480 pages, $13.95, June 2008.
The Secret Life Of CeeCee Wilkes, ISBN: 9780778325314, Mira Books paperback, 528 pages, $13.95, January 2008.
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JANE CLELAND
New York, NY
Jane K. Cleland, author, curriculum developer, and corporate trainer and facilitator, has more than 20 years experience, but she never stops adding accomplishments. She specializes in management (i.e., developing supervision skills, facilitating meetings, priority and time management), marketing (i.e., creating effective marketing plans, marketing to tourists, ROI marketing), and business communications (i.e., writing, listening, and presentation skills).
Now, her first mystery novel, Consigned to Death, published by St. Martin's Minotaur, is beginning a new career for Cleland, as a successful mystery author. Building on her experience owning an antiques store in New Hampshire, Cleland creates a sleuth who deals in antiques but finds herself involved with a brand-new murder.
Jane has developed content used by scores of corporations and government agencies throughout North America, as well as organizations in Europe and Asia. She regularly designs and implements training projects focusing on time management, meeting facilitation, e-mail marketing, business writing, and constructing proposals that win new business.
Jane's had four books published and has scripted and presented two training videos on communication topics, most recently, Business Writing for Results (McGraw Hill). Other titles include Putting First What Matters Most, How to Create High-Impact Design and How to Create High-Impact Newsletters. In addition, she has written articles published in professional journals and magazines on meeting facilitation, time management, priority-setting, customer service, and niche marketing.
Jane's M.B.A. is from Babson College (Wellesley, MA) in management and marketing, and her B.A. is from the University of Denver in communications.
Antiques to Die For, ISBN: 0312368275, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 320 pages, $23.95, April 2008.
Deadly Appraisal, ISBN: 0312343663, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 320 pages, $23.95, April 2007.
Consigned to Death, ISBN: 0312347251, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 388 pages, $23.95, April 2006.
JEFFREY COHEN
New Jersey
Jeffrey Cohen started out his writing career as a trade journalist, covering the consumer electronics business. Since 1985, he has been a freelance reporter and writer, writing for such publications as The New York Times, TV Guide, USA Weekend, Premiere, American Baby and The Newark Star-Ledger, among many others. He is also the author of more than 20 feature-length screenplays. His work has been developed by Jim Henson Productions, CBS, Gross-Weston Productions, Ken Walz Productions and others. Cohen lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.
It Happened One Knife, ISBN: 978-0425222560, Berkley paperback, 304 pages, $7.99, July 2008.
Some Like it Hot-Buttered, ISBN: 042521799X, Berkley paperback, 304 pages, $6.99, October 2007.
Guns A'Blazing, ISBN: 1931282803, AAPC trade paperback, 215 pages, $19.95, February 2006.
As Dog Is My Witness, ISBN: 1890862436, Bancroft Press trade paperback, 280 pages, $16.95, November 2005.
A Farewell to Legs, ISBN: 1890862290, Bancroft Press hardcover, 288 pages, $19.95, November 2003.
For Whom the Minivan Rolls, ISBN: 1890862185, Bancroft Press hardcover, 272 pages, $19.95, October 2002.
The Asperger Parent: How to Raise a Child with Asperger Syndrome and Maintain Your Sense of Humor, ISBN: 1931282145, Autism Asperger Publishing Co. paperback, 260 pages, $19.95, October 2002.
BARBARA COLLEY
Louisiana
"So how did I get started writing?" Barbara Colley asks. "I was trying to be a good, conscientious mother. When my oldest daughter was a young teenager, Harlequin Presents began arriving through the mail. Without my knowledge, my daughter had subscribed, and I decided I should read a few to make sure they were suitable for someone her age. I deemed that they were suitable, but a funny thing happened. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. Then I came to a point when I began to believe that I could write 'one of those.'"
She did indeed, with the Charlotte LaRue series, now six books strong, and a number of romances from Harlequin. Colley also loves "meeting and talking to my readers at booksignings, I love shopping at the malls, and watching and playing tennis. Sailing is fun too, but it's not often I have the time or opportunity to do that any more. The most fun thing of all though, is playing with my sweet grandchildren. So far I have six: three boys and three girls, all ranging in ages from three to thirteen."
Wash and Die, ISBN: 0758222513, Kensington hardcover, 256 pages, $22, February 2008.
Scrub a Dub Dead, ISBN: 0758207670, Kensington paperback, 256 pages, $6.99, January 2007.
Married to the Mop, ISBN: 0758207654, Kensington paperback, 288 pages, $6.99, January 2006.
Wiped Out, ISBN: 0758207638, Kensington paperback, 256 pages, $6.50, February 2005.
Polished Off, ISBN: 1575668785 Kensington, Paperback, 288 pages, February 2004.
Death Tidies Up, ISBN: 1575668769, Kensington paperback, 288 pages, $6.50, February 2003.
Maid for Murder, ISBN: 1575668742, Kensington paperback, 288 pages, $5.99, February 2002.
Women's Fiction:
Rachel's War, ISBN: 0373198566, Harlequin paperback, 448 pages, $5.99, January 2007.
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ALAN COOK
Southern California
After spending more than a quarter of a century as a pioneer in the computer industry, Alan Cook is well into his second career as a writer. In addition to The Hayloft, Alan has written other mystery novels, including Hotline to Murder, a mystery that takes place at a crisis hotline in Bonita Beach, California. His Lillian Morgan mysteries, Catch a Falling Knife and Thirteen Diamonds, explore the secrets of retirement communities. Alan's short story, "Hot Days, Cold Nights," appears in the Mystery Writers of America anthology, A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime, edited by Jeffery Deaver.
Alan splits his time between writing and walking, another passion. His inspirational book, Walking the World: Memories and Adventures, has been named one of the "Top 10 Walking Memoirs and Tales of Long Walks" by the walking website, walking.about.com. He is also the author of Walking to Denver, a light-hearted fictional account of a walk he did.
Freedom's Light: Quotations from History's Champions of Freedom contains quotations from some of our favorite historical figures about personal freedom. And The Saga of Bill the Hermit is a narrative poem about a hermit who decides that the single life isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Honeymoon for Three, AuthorHouse trade paperback (ISBN: 9781434309501) and hardcover (9781434309518), July 2007.
The Hayloft, ISBN: 1425942210, AuthorHouse paperback, 268 pages, $14.49, June 2006.
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DAVID CORBETT
Northern California
In 1983, David Corbett joined the private investigation firm of Palladino & Sutherland in San Francisco, figuring the job might provide a little material here and there. He stayed thirteen years. During that time, he worked on a number of high-profile criminal and civil litigations, including the Lincoln Savings & Loan Case, The Cotton Club Murder Case, The People's Temple Trial, the Michael Jackson case and a RICO civil litigation brought by the Teamsters against former union leaders associated with organized crime. In 1995, he eased out of private investigation work to open a small law practice with his wife, Terri, specializing in probate litigation, estate planning and small business law. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September, 2000, and in January, 2001, passed away at age 46. David continues to reside in northern California.
Blood of Paradise, ISBN: 0812977335, Random House Mortalis paperback, 448 pages, $9.95, March 2007.
The Devil's Redhead, ISBN: 0449007162, Ballantine Books paperback, 416 pages, $6.99, June 2002.
Done for a Dime, ISBN: 0449007154, Ballantine Books paperback, 368 pages, $13.95, July 2003.
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JOHN CUNYUS
Texas
Sixth-generation Texan John Cunyus is a graduate of Rice, TCU, and Pacific Western Universities. Cunyus served twenty years as an ordained minister, publishing many books and articles over that span. During that time, he served Christian churches in Pilot Point, Weatherford, Houston (twice), Lake Jackson, and Dallas, all in Texas. In 2005, he left ministry to work as a writer and financial consultant. In September, 2006, he published Flames in the Jungle, first in a series of Action/Adventure novels set in Colombia, South America. In November, 2006, his publisher reissued Flames of Faith: A Thumbnail Guide to World Religions, which he wrote in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Cunyus also publishes an online magazine at www.johncunyus.com, and speaks frequently to groups around North Texas. Cunyus, married to the former Rocio Lizarazo of Colombia, South America, is the father of four children.
Toromillo the Hunted, ISBN: 978-0595468058, iUniverse trade paperback, 176 pages, $13.95, October 2007.
Flames in the Jungle, ISBN: 0595408001, iUniverse trade paperback, 142 pages, $12.95, September 2006.
Flames of Faith: A Thumbnail Guide to World Religions, ISBN: 0595417671, iUniverse trade paperback, 58 pages, $9.95, October 2006.
DEADLY INK PRESS
Parsippany, NJ
Deadly Ink Press is a new publisher of mystery novels. Our first offering, Say Goodbye, a romantic thriller, by E. J. Rand, came out in February 2008. C. Solimini's debut mystery, Across the River, follows later this spring. Plans for E.J. Rand's next novel, Perfect Cover, are in the works.
We are a small company and are dedicated to the success of our authors.
Say Goodbye by E.J. Rand, ISBN: 0978744212, Deadly Ink Press paperback, 320 pages, $12.95, February 2008.
Across the River by C. Solimini, ISBN: 0978744225, Deadly Ink Press paperback, $12.95, May 2008.
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ERNIE DISTEFANO
Delaware
In the spring of 1981, Ernie DiStefano was a professional pitching prospect of the Cincinnati Reds until an arm injury ended his dream of a professional baseball career. He is currently a professional sports agent, in association with Sports Management Worldwide, with his specialty being baseball players and coaches. He is also a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), and is nationally certified as a Sports Counselor through the National Institute of Sports Professionals (NISP). In 2001, Ernie founded Sports Counseling Services (SCS), an organization devoted to providing comprehensive counseling and coaching services to amateur and professional athletes, addressing all areas that affect an athlete's level of performance and potential. Ernie has also worked as an Associate Baseball Scout with the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, and is currently with the Global Scouting Bureau (GSB). He is the Founder/Coordinator of the Prison Athlete Assistance Program (PAAP) and the Operation Comeback Program (OCP), offering comprehensive counseling and assistance to amateur, professional, and prison athletes whose sports careers have been side-tracked by issues of crime, substance abuse, gambling, or mental illness. Ernie holds three college degrees, including a Master's Degree in Management. He has worked in the Criminal justice system for twenty-three years, during which he has counseled juvenile and adult offenders, including capital murder inmates. Ernie lives with his family in Delaware.
The Happy Athlete: A Success Guide for Parents, Coaches, and Student-Athletes, ISBN: 1880292785, Langmarc Publishing trade paperback, 160 pages, $15.95, June 2006.
ECHELON PRESS
Laurel, MD
Echelon Press is considered by some to be one of the fastest rising Independent publishers in the industry. We have gone from zero to more than a hundred authors in six years, and we have put more than two hundred works into production. We have one mission at Echelon Press, to reach every reader we can, and to touch them with our words. Our books hold that potential and so much more, because they are written from the authors' hearts.
JOSEPH EGER
Pompano Beach, FL
Maestro Joseph Eger is Music Director/Conductor of the Symphony for United Nations (SUN) in New York and Florida, and Guest Conductor for Life in Beijing, China. But he's also been associated with politics, science and philosophy for many years. Eger says he's now congratulated for the very thing that threatened his career in the 1950's—he was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era.
Now, his most radical theory is that "you and everything else in the universe are made of exactly the same stuff. That stuff, believe it or not, is music! The only difference between you, a hot dog, the chair in which you are sitting, a stone and the king of Saudi Arabia is the variation in the configuration of wave frequencies that make up people. Every bit of each of us is actually a song and we all make up a symphony."
Maestro Eger continues to work tirelessly to promote world peace and understanding through an appreciation for other cultures. SUN is deeply concerned with human rights and is active against war, poverty, and the deterioration of the environment.
Einstein's Violin: A Conductor's Notes on Music, Physics, and Social Change, ISBN: 1585423882, Tarcher Publications hardcover, 432 pages, $27.95, March 2005.
LAURA ELVEBAK
Texas
Laura Elvebak was born in a small town in North Dakota but raised in Southern California. She always heard that writers should have interesting life experiences from which to draw their creative juices. She picked her six husbands because they made great characters—a motorcycle racer, a hard-hat diver, an actor/bartender, a Hawaiian chef... well, you get the picture. Unfortunately, they weren't good husband material. She did, however, get to live in a variety of places—New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, six cities in Florida, and six months in Baja California before returning to California and finally moving to Texas in 1981.
To subsidize her writing, and gain more writing experience, she worked as a waitress, bookkeeper, go-go dancer, car salesperson, retail salesperson, a psychiatric assistant, and legal and corporate secretary. But all she really wants to do is write mysteries and screenplays. Laura served two years as chapter president of Mystery Writers of America, Southwest, and is currently their Treasurer and newsletter editor. She is also a member of Sisters-In-Crime.
Less Dead, L&L Dreamspell hardcover, 275 pages, September 2008.
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ROBERT FATE
Los Angeles, CA
A screenwriter and film special effects technician, Robert Fate has won an Academy Award, been a New York fashion model, an oil worker and a chef at an exclusive Los Angeles restaurant. He has studied at the Sorbonne in France and worked as a TV cameraman in Oklahoma. His experience, in short, is extensive and varied. Now, Fate has tackled a new challenge, and is the author of Baby Shark, the first in a series of crime novels featuring Kristin Van Dijk, a teenager who's taking up the family business—pool hustling.
Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues, ISBN: 9780977627622, Capital Crime Press trade paperback, 286 pages, $14.95, May 2007.
Baby Shark, ISBN: 0977627691, Capital Crimes Press trade paperback, 256 pages, $14.95, September 2006.
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JOHN FOXJOHN
Lufkin, TX
Born and raised in the rural East Texas town of Nacogdoches, John Foxjohn quit high school and joined the Army at 17. He became the youngest sergeant in the history of the US Army. After leaving the Army, John became a police officer and worked as a homicide detective. In his law enforcement career, he investigated more than three hundred homicides. Like his protagonist David Mason, John has always had intense interest in forensics, especially fingerprinting. He has attended fingerprinting, counterfeiting, interrogation, and crime scene investigations schools.
After ten years of police work, John decided to go to college and fulfill a promise he had made to his dying mother. He graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches with a degree in history and began teaching and coaching. A gifted motivator, his students and athletes excelled under his direction, winning awards and making remarkable academic progress. John retired after the 2003 school year. He is now a full-time writer and a speaker who instructs writers in forensics and crime scene investigations, and writing mystery/suspense at workshops. John is also a sought-after writing contest judge.
Journey of the Spirit, ISBN: 9781603180047, L & L Dreamspell trade paperback, 272 pages, $16.95, April 2007.
Code of Deceit, ISBN: 0978752805, Quiet Storm Publishing trade paperback, 308 pages, $17.95, July 2006.
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GWEN FREEMAN
Southern California
Born in Alexandria, Virginia, Gwen Freeman's mother was a civil rights activist; her father was the scientist who pioneered night vision technology for the U.S. Army. Gwen graduated from the University of Virginia, and then attended the University of Virginia School of Law, obtaining her J.D. During law school, she clerked for the Dade County Attorney's Office in Miami, researching the issue of the emergency powers of the executive branch during an insurrection, always a timely topic, but particularly so that summer. Gwen also completed an internship at the Central Intelligence Agency, where she edited daily reports concerning the first war in Afghanistan. Immediately after law school, Gwen headed for Amish country, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she clerked at the Court of Common Pleas. After a year, Gwen moved to Los Angeles for the precise opposite experience. She is now a partner at Knapp, Petersen & Clarke, and lives with her husband and law partner in an historic property in the Mt. Washington area where she has her studio.
Murder... Suicide... Whatever, ISBN: 139780977627615, Capital Crimes Press trade paperback, 281 pages, $14.95, March 2007.
MICHELLE GAGNON
San Francisco, CA
After graduating with honors from Wesleyan University, Michelle Gagnon spent five years performing as a modern dancer, modeling, tending bar, working in a Russian supper club, and walking dogs in Manhattan.
Lured to the West Coast by the promise of halcyon days, she composed web content during the fleeting dotcom boom. In the aftermath she survived by founding Infinity Personal Training, specializing in prenatal and postpartum exercise. She also found a niche writing health, lifestyle, and travel articles for a variety of publications such as Glamour, CondeNast Traveler, San Francisco Magazine, and Yoga Journal.
Michelle is a member of Sisters In Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. In her spare time she runs errands and indulges a weakness for stale cinema popcorn and Hollywood blockbusters. She lives in San Francisco with her family.
Boneyard, ISBN: 9780778325390, Mira paperback, 304 pages, $6.99, July 2008.
The Tunnels, ISBN: 9780778324461, Mira paperback, 304 pages, $6.99, June 2007.
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SHANE GERICKE
Naperville, IL
Shane Gericke, author of Blown Away, launched his three-decade writing career in high school, as a $7.50-a-week sportswriter and photographer for the local Frankfort Herald. He liked it so much he never looked back.
He spent 25 years as a journalist, most prominently as a senior financial editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, then switched to writing crime thrillers. His debut, the national bestseller Blown Away, was named Best Debut Mystery of 2006 by Romantic Times Book Reviews, and appears in five languages. His sequel, Cut to the Bone, also from Kensington Publishing, launched worldwide in June. Shane writes for national magazines, is a founding member and charity auction director of International Thriller Writers Inc., a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and Society of Midland Writers, and is a popular speaker at national conferences and book clubs.
Blood Hammer, Kensington, January 2010.
Cut to the Bone, ISBN: 0786018143, Kensington paperback, 384 pages, $6.99, June 2007.
Blown Away, ISBN: 0786018135, Kensington paperback, 320 pages, $6.99, May 2006.
JACK GETZE
New Jersey
An avid reader of the Hardy Boys and Sherlock Holmes, Jack Getze dreamed of being a mystery novelist while in his early teens. He wrote his first stories for the high school's newspaper and creative writing magazine.
An allergic reaction to homework pushed his writing studies toward newspaper work instead of college, and he earned his first byline as a nineteen-year-old copy boy for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. He later moved to the Los Angeles Times where as a Staff Writer and reporter he covered a variety of financial and economic issues for nearly a decade. Through the Los Angeles Times/Washington Post news syndicate, his work has been published in over five-hundred newspapers and periodicals worldwide.
Eventually finding that newspaper writing hindered the production of fiction, he switched professions and moved to the New Jersey Shore. As a retail bond salesman and stockbroker with several regional securities firms there, he learned about financial and economic issues from an entirely different perspective.
Big Numbers, his first published novel, is based on his experiences as a trader, retail broker, and financial counselor. Though no longer licensed to sell securities, he still helps manage money for several friends and family members.
His hobbies include golf, gardening, the exploration of nature, and playing the guitar.
Big Money, ISBN: 1591332397, Hilliard & Harris trade paperback, February 2008 (tentative).
Big Numbers, ISBN: 1591331940, Hilliard & Harris trade paperback, 208 pages, $16.95, April 2007.
ROBERT GOLDSBOROUGH
Illinois
Robert Goldsborough has been a writer and editor in Chicago for the last 46 years. He spent more than 20 years each with the Chicago Tribune (where he was Sunday Magazine Editor for seven years) and Advertising Age, the national marketing publication. He currently is a consultant to Crain Communications, publisher of Advertising Age, and writes regularly for LifeTimes, the monthly publication of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.
He also has written seven murder mysteries marking the return of classic detective Nero Wolfe, who was created by Rex Stout. Most recently, he has published three murder mystery novels featuring his own detective, a Chicago newspaperman. The first book, Three Strikes You're Dead, published by Echelon Press, is set in Chicago in 1938, with its central character Steve "Snap" Malek, a police reporter with the Chicago Tribune.
A second Snap Malek murder mystery, Shadow of the Bomb, is set at the University of Chicago in 1942 against a backdrop of the early experiments leading to the development of the atomic bomb. Famed Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi makes an appearance in the book.
Goldsborough's third book in the Malek mystery series, A Death in Pilsen, was published in 2007. Set against a backdrop of Postwar Chicago in 1946, it centers on the murder of a newly arrived British war bride in the Pilsen neighborhood and the reverberations of this killing. Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright makes an appearance in the story on a return to his one-time hometown of Oak Park. And newsman Malek ventures to Naperville, where he covers the tragic Burlington Line passenger train wreck of April 1946, one of the most devastating rail disasters in American history.
A Death in Pilsen, ISBN: 1590805312, Echelon Press trade paperback, 264 pages, $12.99, October 2007.
J.D. GORDON
Glen Ellyn, IL
Firefighter and paramedic-turned-author Jimmy (J.D.) Gordon was born and raised in Chicago, where he developed a taste for the finer things in life—pan pizza, live blues and the Cubs. Jimmy loves spending time in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean. He lives with his wife and children in Glen Ellyn, a suburb of Chicago.
Caribbean Calling, ISBN: 0974565288, Red Engine Press paperback, 256 pages, $15.95, October 2006.
CHRIS GRABENSTEIN
New York, NY
A former improvisational comedian (he and Bruce Willis were in the same Greenwich Village comedy troupe in the early 1980s), Chris Grabenstein spent almost twenty years writing commercials for America's top advertising agencies.
You've probably seen his spots for clients such as 7-Up, Miller Lite, KFC ("Everybody needs a little KFC"), Dr Pepper, and many others. He was, perhaps most famously, the copy writer who created Trojan Man, a radio campaign that still rides the airwaves today.
He ended his advertising career as an Executive Vice President/Group Creative Director at Young & Rubicam in New York.
Chris has written screenplays, made-for-TV movies, Muppet scripts, and the occasional grocery list. In fact, he's been writing since he moved to New York from Chattanooga, Tennessee—bringing along seven suitcases and the Smith-Corona typewriter he got as a high school graduation gift.
He won the Anthony Award for "Best First Mystery" (given at Bouchercon 2006) for his debut Tilt A Whirl—the first in a series of John Ceepak stories to be set "Down The Shore" in a New Jersey tourist town called Sea Haven. The second book, Mad Mouse, was called one of the "Ten Best Mysteries of 2006" by Kirkus. Whack A Mole came out to great critical acclaim in 2007. The fourth Ceepak book, Hell Hole (it's a ride like the Gravitron), will be the first to be published by St. Martin's Minotaur. Look for it in July, 2008.
Chris's fast-paced Christopher Miller Holiday Thrillers include Slay Ride and Hell for the Holidays.
On May 27, 2008, Random House will publish The Crossroads, the first installment in Chris' Middle Grades ghost story series.
Chris is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the International Thriller Writers, and this gym on West 73rd Street. He lives with his beautiful, beloved wife J.J. in Manhattan.
Hell Hole, ISBN: 978-0312382308, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 304 pages, $24.95, July 2008.
The Crossroads, ISBN: 978-0375846977, Random House Books for Young Readers hardcover, 336 pages, $16.99, May 2008.
Hell for the Holidays, ISBN: 978-0786720613, Carroll & Graf paperback, 400 pages, $14.95, October 2007.
Mad Mouse, ISBN: 978-0786719365, Carroll & Graf paperback, 336 pages, $14.95, May 2007.
Whack A Mole, ISBN: 978-0786718184, Carroll & Graf hardcover, 280 pages, $24.95, May 2007.
Slay Ride, ISBN: 978-0786718771, Carroll & Graf paperback, 384 pages, $14.95, October 2006.
Tilt-a-Whirl, ISBN: 978-0786717811, Carroll & Graf paperback, 321 pages, $14.95, April 2006.
C.C. HARRISON
Anthem, AZ
C.C. Harrison remembers the first book her mother borrowed for her from the local library (Val, A Dog), and recalls closing the cover and saying, "I want to be a writer."
Since that day, she has written, working as a corporate communications writer and freelancer until she decided to join VISTA and live on the Navajo Reservation for a year, working with Monument Valley High School on their School-to-Work Program. There, she established and edited a community newspaper called Monumental Times as a way to teach students newspaper related job skills.
After leaving the reservation, Harrison went on an archaeological dig at an Anasazi site in the desert in the Four Corners and helped uncover a 1000-year-old grand kiva, and pieces of jewelry, one of which she reproduces in her novel The Charmstone.
She has also been a Guardian ad Litem in Miami, advocating in family court for children in the foster care system (which inspired her recently completed second novel, Without Permission).
Harrison is busy completing a third novel. "I've been writing all my life," she says. "I'm certainly not going to stop now."
Running from Strangers, ISBN: 978-1594147098, Five Star hardcover, September 2008.
The Charmstone, ISBN: 1594145797, Five Star Expressions hardcover, 307 pages, $26.95, April 2007.
ELLEN HART
Minneapolis, MN
Ellen Hart is the author of twenty-two crime novels in two series: The Jane Lawless Mysteries, published by St. Martin's, and the Sophie Greenway Mysteries published by Ballantine. Entertainment Weekly named her one of the "101 movers and shakers in the gay entertainment industry."
With the acquisition of the Jane Lawless books by the Ballantine Publishing Group (a division of Random House) in 1993, her series became one of the first ever to go from a small feminist press directly to a New York publisher. Ellen's novels have received five Lambda Literary Awards for Best Lesbian Mystery, three Minnesota Book Awards for Best Popular Fiction, and two Golden Crown Literary Awards for Best Mystery/Thriller/Adventure. In 2005, Ellen was named an official "GLBT Literary Saint" at the Saints and Sinners Literary convention in New Orleans. She was also honored with the 2005 Alice B. Reader's Appreciation Medal, a career achievement award.
Ellen worked as a professional chef for 14 years before beginning her writing career.
Since the publication of her first work in 1989, Ellen has spoken at conventions, conferences, libraries, bookstores, colleges, and writer's workshops all over the country. For the past eleven years she has taught mystery writing through the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, the largest independent (not associated with a college or university) writing community in the nation. Her novels are published in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Germany and France.
She lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her partner of 29 years. She is the grandmother of four wonderful children that are the light of her life.
Jane Lawless Series:
The Mortal Groove, ISBN: 978-0312349455, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 368 pages, $25.95, December 2007.
Night Vision, ISBN: 978-0312374433, St. Martin's Griffin paperback, 336 pages, $14.95, November 2007.
The Iron Girl, ISBN: 978-0312317508, St. Martin's Minotaur paperback, 352 pages, $14.95, June 2006.
A Killing Cure, ISBN: 978-0312317645, St. Martin's Minotaur paperback, 304 pages, $14.95, November 2005.
An Intimate Ghost, ISBN: 978-0312317478 St. Martin's Minotaur paperback, 320 pages, $14.95, February 2005.
Stage Fright, ISBN: 978-0312317652, St. Martin's Minotaur paperback, 256 pages, $13.95, November 2004.
Hallowed Murder, ISBN: 978-0312319311, St. Martin's Minotaur paperback, 256 pages, $14.95, December 2003.
Immaculate Midnight, ISBN 978-0312266769, St. Martin's Minotaur paperback, 336 pages, $13.95, June 2003.
Merchant of Venus, ISBN: 978-0312289058, St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover, 384 pages, $24.95, February 2001.
Sophie Greenway Series:
No Reservations Required, ISBN: 978-0449007327 Fawcett paperback, 320 pages, $7.99, May 2005.
Death on a Silver Platter, ISBN: 978-0449007310 Fawcett paperback, 352 pages, $6.99, August 2003.
Dial M for Meatloaf, ISBN: 978-0345421548, Fawcett paperback, 336 pages, $6.99, October 2001.
PATRICK HYDE
Washington, DC
Patrick Hyde is an author and attorney who began his career as a trial lawyer in Pikeville, KY, representing miners and indigents in court actions against pension funds and small coal operators. In 1982 Patrick joined the Special Litigation Division of the U.S. Solicitor of Labor and moved to the Washington, D.C. area.
Patrick went on to become a specialist in internal labor union affairs. Eager to gain more courtroom experience, he left government law practice to found a private D.C. law firm.
His first published work of fiction was "The Suit," carried in the April, 1991 edition of the Washington City Paper. Throughout the nineties Patrick published various criminal law articles. His first novel, The Only Pure Thing, was released in January 2007 and Patrick is presently working on the second novel, Scorpio Rising. Patrick is active in the Mystery Writers of America and has served on the Executive Board and as Vice-President of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter, consisting of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.
The Only Pure Thing, ISBN: 0931761614, Beckham Publishing Group paperback, 272 pages, $14.95, January 2007.
JULIE HYZY
Illinois
As a youngster on Chicago's south side, Julie Hyzy flipped burgers and chopped onions at a neighborhood hot dog stand for spending money. She soon moved up in the world, becoming a singing waitress at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour—a job she loved even though she couldn't sing (still can't). Over the years, she's acted in community theater productions, appeared in television commercials, and crashed a previously all-male fraternity to become one of the first female brothers in Loyola University's Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi. Julie had every intention to major in English and become a writer, but family, friends, and frat brothers convinced her otherwise. Having held positions as junior officer at a downtown bank, office manager at an architectural firm, and financial advisor at a prestigious wealth management company, she realizes that the business degree was probably a good choice—but fiction is truly her passion. She's delighted to finally be able to make writing a priority in her life.
Julie's first novel, Artistic License, a stand-alone romantic suspense (Five Star), won the Love Is Murder Readers' Choice Award (Lovey) for Best First Novel in 2004. It was subsequently released in both large print and trade paperback. Her next novel, Deadly Blessings (June 2005), was the first in her mystery series featuring Chicago-based reporter Alex St. James. Deadly Interest, the second in the series, garnered great reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus, and won a Lovey for Best Traditional/Amateur Sleuth in 2007. Julie's short stories have won awards, too. Most recently, her "Strictly Business" from the Bleak House anthology These Guns For Hire won the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Derringer Award in the Longer-short story category.
Coming up next is a brand-new series. The first book is titled State of the Onion and will debut in January, 2008. It features White House Chef, Olivia Paras, who feeds the First Family... and saves the world in her spare time ;-) To research it, Julie visited the White House, spoke with a former White House chef, took cooking lessons, and learned to shoot a variety of firearms. She's currently working on the second book in the series.
Presently, Julie is the Vice President of the Midwest Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. She's always juggling several projects at once, but makes it a point to write every day.
State of the Onion: A White House Chef Mystery, ISBN: 0425218693, Berkley Publishing paperback, 336 pages, $7.99, January 2008.
Deadly Interest, ISBN: 159414494X, Five Star hardcover, 390 pages, $25.95, September 2006.
Deadly Blessings, ISBN: 1410402533, Five Star paperback, 347 pages, July 2006.
Artistic License, ISBN: 1410402231, Five Star paperback, 344 pages, March 2005.