Gayle Lynds is the New York Times bestselling “Queen of Espionage.” Her recent novel, The Book of Spies, was named one of the five best thrillers of 2011 by Library Journal. Her novel Masquerade is among Publishers Weekly’s Top Ten Spy Novels of All Time. She is a member of the Association for Intelligence Officers and the cofounder (with David Morrell) of International Thriller Writers, I.T.W. Gayle interested John C. Sheldon in fiction after they married in 2011. John, a former Maine state judge and Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Law School, had published frequently in legal journals. He now prefers writing fiction because “you can blow things up and grease people.” They live together on fourteen wooded acres outside of Portland, Maine.
Sara Paretsky grew up in Kansas during the Cold War, when anticommunist fears were at their height. Her father, a cell biologist, went to Bratislava to meet his Czech counterparts in 1964. On his way home, he injected himself with their strain of Rickettsia. Paretsky loves Golden Retrievers, hates ideologies, and is also the author of the V. I. Warshawski novels, and holder of both the Diamond Dagger and the Edgar for lifetime achievement as a mystery writer.
Gary Alexander has written thirteen novels, including Loot, fourth in the mystery series featuring comic Buster Hightower. Disappeared, the first in the series, has been optioned to Universal Pictures.
He has written 150+ short stories and sold travel articles to six major dailies.
Dragon Lady, his Vietnam novel, is being published by Istoria Books, available both as an ebook and print-on-demand. His website is www.garyralexander.com.
Alan Cook writes mystery/suspense novels, including the Carol Golden amnesia series. Carol Golden isn’t her real name. She gives herself that name in Forget to Remember when she gets hit on the head and can’t remember who she is or anything about her past. In Relatively Dead she has recovered her identity but not most of her memory. While trying to connect with cousins, she discovers they are targeted for death and she may be next. Dangerous Wind finds her working with a shadowy group of government agents and traveling to all seven continents to apprehend an ex-boyfriend she doesn’t remember who is supposedly trying to foment world chaos. Alan has also collaborated with illustrator Janelle Carbajal to create the children’s book, Dancing with Bulls.
Brendan DuBois of Exeter, New Hampshire, is the award-winning author of nearly 130 short stories and sixteen novels including his latest, Fatal Harbor (Pegasus Crime), part of the Lewis Cole mystery series. His short fiction has appeared in Playboy, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and numerous anthologies including The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century, published in 2000 by Houghton-Mifflin, as well as The Best American Noir of the Century, published in 2010. His stories have twice won him the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and have also earned him three Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America. He is also a Jeopardy! game show champion. You can visit his website at www.BrendanDuBois.com.
Bev Vincent is the author of three books: The Road to the Dark Tower (nominated for a Bram Stoker Award), The Stephen King Illustrated Companion (nominated for a Stoker and an Edgar), and, most recently, The Dark Tower Companion. He has published over seventy short stories, including appearances in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Thin Ice (for his Al Blanchard Award–winning story “The Bank Job”) and the MWA anthology The Blue Religion. He has been a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance since 2001, is an original member of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging community, and writes book reviews for Onyx Reviews. His website is bevvincent.com.
Katia Lief is the author of several internationally bestselling crime novels. Her latest is The Money Kill, the fourth installment of her Karin Schaeffer series, which was published in 2013 by HarperCollins. She teaches fiction writing at The New School in Manhattan and lives with her family in Brooklyn. You can visit her at katialief.com.
Vicki Doudera is a top-producing real-estate agent at a busy firm in coastal Camden, Maine, and the author of the Darby Farr Mysteries, published by Midnight Ink and featuring crime-solving, deal-making real estate agent Darby Farr. Her debut novel, A House to Die For, was chosen as a Best Read of 2010 by Suspense Magazine. Her latest and fifth in the series is Deal Killer.
When she’s not writing, Vicki enjoys cycling, hiking, and sailing with her family, as well as volunteering for her favorite cause, Habitat for Humanity. She has pounded nails from Maine to Florida, helping to build simple, affordable Habitat homes, and is currently President of her local affiliate.
In addition to MWA, Vicki belongs to Sisters in Crime and the National Association of Realtors. You can read more about her at vickidoudera.com.
Jonathan Stone does most of his writing on the commuter train between the Connecticut suburbs and Manhattan, where he is the creative director of a midtown advertising agency. His fifth and latest novel, Moving Day, was published in March, and has been optioned for film by Nick Wechsler and Steve Schwartz. A graduate of Yale, Jon is married, with a son and daughter in college. His previous short story, “Hedge,” appeared in last year’s MWA anthology, The Mystery Box.
Gigi Vernon grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. As a child of the Cold War, she’s always been fascinated by our so-called enemy Russia. She studied Russian language and history at Georgetown University, and earned a PhD in history from the State University of New York. Her short stories, set in a variety of historical time periods and places, have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and elsewhere. Currently she resides in upstate New York, and has always thought it criminal her closet isn’t full of beautiful designer clothes, purses, and shoes.