IRENE BENNETT BROWN is the author of fifteen novels for both children and adults. Her publishers have included Atheneum, Ballantine, Viking Penguin in paperback, and at present, her library edition publisher, Five Star. The significant role women and children played in developing the West, against incredible odds, has long been neglected and it is their story she particularly wants to tell. Her recent works include a Kansas-based series of historical novels from Five Star Publishing, The Women of Paragon Springs, about a group of women who build their own town as a means to survive the raw frontier. Her 1994 novel, The Plainswoman, published by Ballantine, was a Western Writers of America Spur Award finalist. Previous to writing for adults, she authored several award-winning young adult novels, including Before the Lark, winner of a Spur Award and a nomination for the Mark Twain Award. She is recipient of the Oregon Library Association Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award for significant contribution to the field of literature. Brown is a member of the Authors' Guild, Western Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society, and is a founding member of Women Writing the West. She lives in Jefferson, Oregon with her husband, Bob, a retired research chemist. Her favorite pursuits are reading and exploring historic places--beginning with antique stores. Website: http://www.irenebennettbrown.com

ANN CHAMBERLIN is the international bestselling author of ten historical novels.  Her Reign of the Favored Women trilogy set in sixteenth-century Ottoman Turkey spent over a year on the Turkish bestseller list.  A volume of her Joan of Arc Tapestries series, Gloria, is scheduled to come out to coincide with the conference.  She also writes plays, including Jihad, named best new off-off Broadway play in 1996.  She lives with her family in an old farmhouse near Salt Lake City, Utah.  www.annchamberlin.com is her website.

EILEEN CHARBONNEAU has been an award-winning novelist for sixteen years. St. Martin's/Forge is Eileen's publisher for her American historical novels Waltzing in Ragtime, The Randolph Legacy, and Rachel LeMoyne. Tor Books for Kids publishes Eileen's highly acclaimed young adult historical novels, The Woods Family Trilogy (The Ghosts of Stony Clove, In the Time of the Wolves, and Honor to the Hills). She has written a series of Cherokee mysteries for Kensington. Eileen's work has garnered the Golden Medallion Award, the Phyllis A. Whitney Award, Heart of the West Award, and the Christopher Columbus Discovery Award. She lives in the Hudson River Valley of New York State, where she also works as a teacher and professional storyteller.

SHANNON DONNELLY's writing has won RWA's national Golden Heart, and she is a past finalist in the national RITA award for Best Regency. Other awards include the Grand Prize in the "Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer" contest, judged by Nora Roberts, which gave her a trip to Paris, the Laurel Wreath, the Winter Rose, the Bookseller's Best, and multiple finalists in the Holt Medallion, the Colorado ACE, the Wisconsin Write Touch Award, the Golden Quill, and the Beacon. Her work has repeatedly earned 4 1/2 Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times, magazine as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: "simply superb"... "wonderfully uplifting"... and "beautifully written." In addition to her Regency romances, she has had novellas in several anthologies, and has written young adult horror and computer games. Currently, she is a member of the Los Angeles Romance Authors (LARA), Orange County Chapter (OCC) of RWA, the Published Author Special Interest Chapter (PASIC), and is a member and past-president of the Beau Monde, Regency Chapter of RWA. She is a scheduled speaker at the 2004 RWA National Conference, and has spoken at other chapters and conferences. Her abiding passions include--besides writing--her dogs, reading, gardening, painting, belly dancing, and the ever present horses in her life. Website: http://www.shannondonnelly.com

JAMES DUFFY has a thirty-year background in writing and television production. He is the author of Sand
of the Arena, book one of the Gladiators of the Empire action-adventure series set in ancient Rome, to be
published by McBooks Press in Fall 2005. Jim began his career as a news producer/writer in 1972 at the CBS
affiliate in Miami, Florida. In 1979, he established his own production company, Venture Media, providing creative development, writing and production services for television documentaries, cable networks, government
agencies, and interactive multimedia projects. He has written and produced documentaries for Discovery
Networks, the National Park Service, Travel Channel, and the Armed Forces Network, among others. He has
researched and written on a wide variety of historical topics including the Blue Angels, Hernando DeSoto,
Abraham Lincoln, The Beatles, and Robert E. Lee. Jim is also a contributing writer for Moonstone Books, recently
completing a western graphic novel series based on O Henry’s character, the Cisco Kid. His magazine articles
have appeared in Modern Drummer, Government Video Magazine, Business Journal, and other national
enthusiast and trade publications. Among his numerous writing and production honors are an Emmy Award,
sixteen Telly Awards, and twenty Addy Awards. He was named to the Top 100 Multimedia Producers list by AV/Multimedia Producer Magazine and is also listed in Who’s Who in Communication. Jim lives in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, with his family. Website: www.JamesDuffy.info

CAROLA DUNN is the author of the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series, set in England in the 1920s, several of which have been IMBA bestsellers. The series was nominated for a RT lifetime achievement award. A reviewer said of the first title: “Heaven for those who miss Allingham and Sayers…cries out for the BBC to film it…Perfect hammock reading that never insults your intelligence...A portrait under glass of another era.” Born and brought up in England, Carola now lives in Eugene, Oregon, with her lab/shepherd Willow, who walks her by the Willamette River every morning, except when she’s visiting her grandchildren in California.  She has been writing historical fiction for 25 years, including 32 Regencies, many of which are reappearing as e-books and in large print. Her most recent title, thirteenth in the mystery series, is A Mourning Wedding, and Fall of a Philanderer is due out Summer 2005. Website: www.geocities.com/CarolaDunn

KATHY LYNN EMERSON is the author of the Face Down series, set in Elizabethan England, and the Diana Spaulding mysteries, which take place in 1888.  In the first of these, Deadlier than the Pen (2004), the action moves from New York City, through southern New England, to end up in Bangor, Maine. New in April 2005 is the eighth entry in the Face Down series, Face Down Below the Banqueting House. Kathy is also the author of Murders and Other Confusions (2004), an anthology of eleven short stories featuring Susanna, Lady Appleton and her friends. For more information, Kathy's website is at www.kathylynnemerson.com.

KATHLEEN ERNST is an historical novelist, social historian, and educator. Her historical fiction for children and young adults include three mysteries (Trouble at Fort La Pointe, Whistler in the Dark, Betrayal at Cross Creek) and four novels set during the American Civil War (The Night Riders of Harpers Ferry, The Bravest Girl in Sharpsburg, Retreat from Gettysburg, Ghosts of Vicksburg.) These titles have earned the Arthur Tofte Juvenile Fiction Award from the Council of Wisconsin Writers, a WILLA Finalist Award from Women Writing the West, an Edgar Award nomination from Mystery Writers of America, and an Agatha Award nomination from Malice Domestic. Kathleen also authored a nonfiction adult work, Too Afraid to Cry: Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign, which was an alternate selection of the History Book Club. She has a Masters Degree in History Education and writing from Antioch University, where her self-designed program focused on historical fiction, of course! She served for twelve years as a Curator of Education and Collections with the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Historic Sites Division, and spent a decade scripting instructional video programs. Her television work has been honored with an Emmy Award, an Arthur Schramm Award, a Platinum "best of show" Aurora Award, and a Judge's Award for Instructional Excellence from the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Website: http://www.distaff.net

MARY PEACE FINLEY is an author of books for young people. She was born and raised on the plains of southeastern Colorado, exploring canyons, discovering pictographs, hounding for rocks. Although she has traveled abroad and lived in Mexico, England, Uruguay and Costa Rica, the return to her "roots" in Colorado has fanned her passion for writing Western historical fiction.  She is a graduate of the University of Denver, a former teacher of English-as-a Foreign Language, and a former scriptwriter for the PBS TV nature series, "Marty Stouffer's WILD AMERICA." She enjoys giving book talks at schools as well as teaching writing classes and workshops. (And snorkeling!)  Mary is an active member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She is also a member of the Colorado Authors' League, Women Writing the West and Western Writers of America.  Mary's short non-fiction piece, "Rosario," is included in the anthology, Woven on the Wind--Women Write About Friendship in the Sagebrush West,  published Spring, 2001 by Houghton Mifflin. She was also pleased to be the recipient of a grant from the Colorado Authors' League to attend a workshop at the Highlights Foundation in September, 2001. Her latest young adult novel, Meadow Lark, won the 2004 Colorado Book Award and was a finalist for the 2004 WILLA Award. Website: http://www.marypeacefinley.com

Though MARGARET FRAZER made up stories and wrote them down from a very early age, it was with Rosemary Sutcliff's Roman Britain novels that she became addicted to historical novels and realized for the first time that the way a story was told mattered as much as the story itself. When Shakespeare's Richard II and Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time were added to her reading-mix, she discovered late medieval England, settled herself and herstory-telling into the 1400s, and has been happily there ever since. She is now the nationally best-selling author of the Dame Frevisse series of late medieval history mysteries, with two nominations for Edgar Awards and a second, spin-off series lately started, plus short stories in numerous anthologies, including "Neither Pity, Love, Nor Fear" which won the Historical Mystery Appreciation Society's Herodotus award. She lives outside Elk River, Minnesota, with cats and a great many books. Website:  www.margaret-frazer.com

Before becoming Senior Editor for High Country Publishers in 2001, JUDITH GEARY was a college instructor, mother, writer and student. She's still all those things - just with less time to spare. Her graduate degree from George Peabody College in Nashville, TN, is in education with a concentration in counseling psychology, but she has continued to take workshops and classes in writing and editing.  Geary's interest in historical fiction grew out of a class with speculative fiction writer Orson Scott Card that she took in the late 1980s. In answer to a question about what he read for enjoyment, Card said he read history and aspired to write historical fiction. From background research for a story for that class, Geary has become passionate about the story of the past, its patterns and its people. Website: http://www.highcountrypublishers.com

ROBERTA GELLIS has a varied educational background--a master's degree in biochemistry and another in medieval literature--and an equally varied working history--10 years as a research chemist, many years as a free-lance editor of scientific manuscripts, and nearly 40 years as a writer. She is married--to the same man for over 50 years (no mean feat in these days)--and lives in Lafayette, Indiana.
     Gellis, known for her meticulous research and attention to historical detail, has been one of the most successful writers of historical fiction of the last two decades. Her master's degree in medieval literature has provided the background for many of her novels and mysteries. The six books of the Roselynde Chronicles are considered classics and will be reprinted by Harlequin Signature Select starting in September 2005. A new book in the chronicles, Desiree, will be published in February 2005. Gellis has also published romantic suspense, science fiction, and mythological fantasy. Her latest mystery is set in the Renaissance, Lucrezia Borgia and the Mother of Poisons, and she is working on a historical fantasy series set in Elizabethan times. This Scepter'd Isle was published by Baen in 2004, and the second book, Ill Met by Moonlight, will be published in March 2005.
     Gellis has been the recipient of many awards, including the Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books, the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur, the Romantic Times Awards for Best Novel in the Medieval Period (several times) as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy, and the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award. Website: http://www.robertagellis.com

MARY GILLGANNON is the author of ten historical romances set in the Dark Ages, medieval, and English Regency time periods. Her books have been published in Russia, China, the Netherlands, and Germany. A native of Illinois, she now lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In addition to writing fiction, she works full-time in a public library. As part of her responsibilities, she maintains the library's fiction collection. She is married and has two college-age children. Mary is currently working on a number of projects, including a historical series with some fantasy elements. Website: http://www.marygil.com

ALAN GORDON is the author of the Theophilos the Fool series from St. Martin's Minotaur Books [Thirteenth Night; Jester Leaps In; A Death in the Venetian Quarter; The Widow of Jerusalem; and An Antic Disposition]. His protagonist, a jester and member of the Fools' Guild, travels throughout Europe and the Holy Land in a constant effort to bring peace and laughter to a world that frequently wants neither. Alan's short fiction has appeared in a number of venues including Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen. By day, he is a veteran attorney with the New York Legal Aid Society, and has recently joined the Lehman Engel/BMI Musical Theater Workshop as a lyricist. He lives in New York City with his wife, Judy Downer, an editor, and son, Robert.

ANITA GORDON (a.k.a. Kathleen Kirkwood) is an award-winning, best-selling author of six historical romance novels. Anita studied Art History and History at the University of Arizona where she gained both a degree and a husband. The U.S. Navy afforded them travel overseas, including several years in Iceland which fired her interest in the Vikings and led to her "Heart" trilogy. Long involved in theatre, Anita acted stateside and abroad on stage and television and also authored two children's plays. Mother of three, and grandmother of three, Anita lives with her family in Denver, Colorado. Currently, she is working on a mainstream novel set in thirteenth-century Wales.

Award-winning author KATHLEEN CUNNINGHAM GULER writes the Macsen's Treasure series, historical novels set in early Arthurian Britain. The first in the four-part series, Into the Path of Gods, was published in 1998. The second book, In the Shadow of Dragons, released in 2001, won a Colorado Independent Publishers Association award for fiction. She is currently working on the third book in the series. Kathleen has studied Arthurian legend and Celtic history for more than twenty years in both the United States and Great Britain. She currently teaches a course on the Internet on the historical background of the early Arthurian era. Besides the novels, she has published numerous articles, essays, short stories, reviews and poetry, and is the assistant editor of Bardsong, The Journal for Celebrating the Celtic Spirit. She descends from the Celtic nations of Wales and Scotland and is a member of the International Arthurian Society. Publisher website: http://www.bardsongpress.com

LAUREN HANEY, formerly a technical editor in the aerospace and international construction industries, is the author of eight ancient Egyptian mysteries featuring Lieutenant Bak: The Right Hand of Amon, A Face Turned Backward, A Vile Justice, A Curse of Silence, A Place of Darkness, A Cruel Deceit, Flesh of the God, and A Path of Shadows.  Her short story "Murder in the Land of Wawat," which also features Lieutenant Bak, was nominated for an Anthony Award in 2002. She lives in northern California and travels to Egypt at every opportunity.

LOUISE HAWES is the author of sixteen books, including novels chosen as New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age, International Reading Association Young Adult Choice, Young Adult Library Services Association Popular Paperback for 2002, and New Jersey Book of the Year.  A founding faculty member of the MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College, Louise has been a guest author for Novello, NC Reading Festival, SCBWI Carolinas, NC Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Associated Writing Programs, and has served as Visiting Author to American secondary schools throughout Italy. Her short fiction includes stories in Prentice Hall's YA fiction text, The Reader Writes the Story (1995), Simon & Schuster's Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Truth (2001), and the forthcoming “Good Girls,” the sixth volume of the Random House YA anthology, Rush Hour.  Louise’s latest novel is The Vanishing Point (Houghton Mifflin, 2004). Historical fiction that takes place during the Italian Renaissance, the book centers on the adolescence of the legendary female painter, Lavinia Fontana. Although her four years of research for this book did not improve her command of Italian as much as she’d hoped, Louise reports she now speaks fluent truffle! Website: http://www.louisehawes.com

CLYDE LINSLEY's mystery novels featuring nineteenth century New England lawyer Josiah Beede and his friend Randolph, a former slave, have been praised for their historical accuracy and period flavor. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, he graduated from Little Rock Central High School (during the desegregation years) and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He has worked for magazines, radio and television, and newspapers and has, for the past 20 years, been an independent freelance writer based in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. His third Josiah Beede novel, Die Like a Hero, will be published in April.

Outlaws, cowgirls, pioneers--these are the subjects of SUZANNE LYON's historical western novels. Raised in the Midwest, Lyon came to Colorado to attend college at the foot of Pike's Peak. She worked as a lawyer for, among others, the National Park Service before turning her talents to writing. She is the author of three historical novels from Five Star Publishing: El Desconocido: Butch Cassidy, which tells the story of the infamous outlaw's later years and the legend surrounding his death; Bandit Invincible, the story of Cassidy's early years (also available in paperback from Leisure Books); and Lady Buckaroo, based on the lives of female rodeo stars in the 1920s. Her fourth Five Star Novel, A Heart for Any Fate, about Missouri pioneer Hannah Cole, will appear in November, 2005. Lyon is a former officer of Women Writing the West and a member of Western Writers of America. She resides near Denver with her husband and two children. Website: http://www.suzannelyon.com

CYNTHIA LEAL MASSEY is the award-winning author of Fire Lilies, a saga of the Mexican Revolution, winner of the 2002 Independent E-Book Award for Best Romance and a 2002 EPIC Award finalist for Best Historical Novel. Her second novel, The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas, a continuation of the drama that unfolds in Fire Lilies, was a 2003 WILLA finalist for Best Original Softcover. Her short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in regional and national magazines. She has worked as a corporate editor, journalist, and college English instructor. She holds a master's degree in English from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. She is now the editor-at-large for a general interest magazine, SCENE IN SA, headquartered in San Antonio. She is the immediate past-president of Women Writing the West. Her website is www.cynthialealmassey.com.

ROSALIND MILES is the author of the bestselling Guenevere trilogy, the Tristan and Isolde trilogy, and the novel I, Elizabeth. A well-known and critically acclaimed novelist, essayist and broadcaster, she divides her time between homes in England and California. Website: http://www.rosalind.net

ELIZABETH SHOWN MILLS is a historical writer who has spent her life studying families and the bonds between people—emotional as well as genetic. A popular lecturer for a quarter century, she has addressed more than a thousand audiences internationally, including appearances on CNN and PBS (U.S.), BBC (Britain), and ABC (Australia). The author, editor, and translator of a dozen books in generational history and more than 50 articles in popular and scholarly presses, Elizabeth is a past president of the American Society of Genealogy, was for 16 years editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and has been cited widely as “the person who has had the most influence on genealogy in the post-Roots era.” Her new historical novel, Isle of Canes–which tells the story of a family’s journey from colonial slavery to freedom to prosperity, before being plunged back into servitude by Civil War and Jim Crow—is based on thousands of documents Mills personally gleaned from archives in six nations. Website: http://www.isleofcanes.com

Dance historian LARAINE MINER holds a B.S. degree from Brigham Young University in P. E. Dance as well as two M.S. degrees from California State University, Hayward, in P.E. Dance and Counseling/Mental Health. Laraine researched, wrote and published an article, "Jewish Religious Dance," in an AAHPHERD (American Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance) monograph, Focus on DanceX: Religion and Dance, edited by Dennis Fallon and Mary Jane Volbers.  For over thirty years Laraine has researched the folk and social dances brought to Utah by the early settlers, most of whom were Mormon Pioneers. She wrote her Master's thesis at CSUH on Early Utah Dances, and presented a paper on this research at the Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) 1985 Conference held at Brigham Young University. In 1995 she co-authored the booklet Old Time Utah Dances and produced a companion recording of the dance music. Laraine continues this research, and is in the process of historically reconstructing the Early Utah Dances she has collected in living tradition and written documentation for a proposed company of dancers at "This Is The Place" Heritage Park, a living museum in Salt Lake City, UT.  For her day-job Laraine is a full-time psychotherapist/dance/movement therapist at Valley Mental Health, Children's Outpatient Services in Salt Lake City, Utah.

LYNDE MADSEN MOTT graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design/Illustration. Her artwork, which focuses on early 19th century women has been features in "The Ensign" Magazine and is distributed nationally. She strives to create accurate images of the past through research of architecture, foliage, furnishings and particularly clothing. Her interest in historical clothing has led to her assisting in the costuming needs of several organizations, including a documentary about the Lion and Beehive houses for KUED and the LDS missionaries in Nauvoo. She lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah, with her wonderfully supportive husband, Randy, and her three young boys.

BEVERLE GRAVES MYERS is the author of the Baroque Mystery series from Poisoned Pen Press. Interrupted Aria introduced Tito Amato, a Venetian castrato who thrills audiences from the opera stage while also indulging his stellar talent for sleuthing. Her latest novel, Painted Veil, examines the strained relations between Venice's Jewish and Christian inhabitants and pits Tito against the murderous leader of a secret society. A retired psychiatrist, Bev lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband, Lawrence. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Alfred Hitchcock, Futures and Derby Rotten Scoundrels. For more information, visit Bev's website at www.beverlegravesmyers.com.

SHARAN NEWMAN is a medieval historian and writer.  She has written four historical fantasies, ten medieval mysteries, several short stories and one non-fiction history, The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code (Berkley 2005),  in which she got to visit the sites in the book, do lots of fun research and get paid for it.  Her most recent mystery is The Witch in the Well (Forge 2004). Website:  http://www.sharannewman.com

JUILENE OSBORNE-MCKNIGHT is the author of I Am of Irelaunde, Daughter of Ireland, Bright Sword of Ireland and the forthcoming Song of Ireland. She teaches Celtic and Native American culture/mythology and writing as DeSales University in Pennsylvania. She is also a traditional storyteller or seanchai; in that capacity, she tells stories at festivals, schools and conferences throughout the U.S. Website: http://www.jmcknight.com

JOANNA CATHERINE SCOTT's most recent novel Cassandra, Lost was inspired by an old Maryland gravestone inscribed: "Cassandra van Pradelles, Lost at Sea, 1815." Booklist calls it: "A spellbinding tale brimming with romance, intrigue, and adventure firmly grounded in historical detail." Scott's previous novel, The Lucky Gourd Shop, set in post-war South Korea, was nominated for Book Sense Book-of-the Year. Excerpts won awards from Literal Latté, Georgia State University Review, and Crucible. Charlie and the Children, a novel of Vietnam, was Book-of-the-Month for the Vietnam Veteran Association's journal Veteran. Scott is also the author of Indochina's Refugees: Oral Histories from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and the poetry collection Breakfast at the Shangri-La, poems set in the Philippines and Korea, for which she won the Black Zinnias Award from the California Institute of Arts and Letters. Ms. Scott was born in England, raised in Australia, and took her graduate degree in Philosophy at Duke University. She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

ERIC G. SWEDIN is an assistant professor in the Information Systems and Technologies department at Weber State University, where he specializes in information security and open source technologies. He also earned a doctorate in the history of science and technology and is a novelist.  His Healing Souls: Psychotherapy in the Latter-day Saint Community (University of Illinois Press, 2003) is a history of religion and psychology among the Mormons. His The Killing of Greybird (Cedar Fort, 2004) is a mystery novel set in the year 1865 in central Utah. Two more books, one on the history of contemporary science and the other on the history of computers, will be published in the spring of 2005. His web site is www.swedin.org.

KAREN SWEE attributes her lifelong addiction to historical mysteries on her childhood reading of The Secret of the Old Clock and Little House on the Prairie. From Nancy and Laura, she learned she could solve mysteries and partake of the breathtaking adventures safely curled up in her armchair. After growing up in the Midwest and on the West Coast, Karen moved to New Jersey, where she lives surrounded by historic places and the ghosts of the American Revolution who whisper stories in her ear. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Murder is Karen's first mystery. Website: http://www.karenswee.com

SHIRLEY TALLMAN was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. In her teens she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she obtained her BA degree in Radio and Television at San Jose State University.  Shirley worked for several years as a syndicated columnist and is the author of thirteen novels, ten of them for Harlequin-Silhouette's Romance divisions, written under the pseudonym "Erin Ross." Two of Shirley's contemporary romance novels made Walden's national bestseller list, and she was twice nominated by Romantic Times as "Best Desire Novel of the Year." An eleventh book, titled Please Stand By--Your Mother's Missing, was a mainstream novel co-written with Nancy Herbage. Shirley is currently writing an historical mystery series for St. Martin's Press. The first book, Murder on Nob Hill, features Sarah Woolson, a feisty nineteenth century female attorney who gets involved in murder. The second book in the series, The Russian Hill Murders,  is scheduled for release next July, 2005.  Together with her screenwriting partner, Nancy Hersage, Shirley has written and sold television scripts to NBC, CBS, ABC and HBO.  Ms. Tallman and her husband divide their time between Eugene, Oregon, and Incline Village, Nevada, where she continues to work as a novelist and screenwriter. Website: http://www.shirleytallman.com

ELSA WATSON graduated from Carleton College with a degree in Classical languages. She and her husband served with the Peace Corps in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, for two years, where she began writing Maid Marian longhand, by lamplight. After returning to the United States, she worked at Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program and then returned to her native Washington State to write full-time. She lives near Seattle with her husband and three cats.