Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author of sixteen novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, and short stories, and the editor of two essay anthologies.

Jenny was born in a small town in Ohio, earned a BS in Art Education from Bowling Green State University, married her college sweetheart, and spent three years as a military wife and pre-school teacher before settling down in Beavercreek, Ohio, to raise her daughter and teach elementary and junior high art. An MA in Professional Writing and Feminist Criticism from Wright State University led to teaching high school English at Beavercreek and undergraduate English at WSU and Antioch College, and acting as advisor for the Beavercreek theater tech department. It also led to the beginning of her PhD in literature at Ohio State, where she taught as a graduate assistant and lecturer and published her lone book of literary criticism, Anne Rice: a Critical Companion.

Her PhD was derailed in 1991 when, in the middle of researching her dissertation on the differences in the way men and women write stories, she read 100 romance novels and fell in love with the genre. She changed her dissertation topic so she could study romance and shortly thereafter began to write it, selling her first manuscript in 1992, a novella called Sizzle. Her first book, Manhunting , was published in 1993, followed by Sizzle and seven other category novels for Harlequin and Bantam, which further derailed her PhD when the OSU creative writing department lured her into their program, where she earned her MFA in fiction. She's still ABD on that PhD.

Jenny left category fiction for single title romance when she signed with St. Martin's Press, publishing her first hard cover, Tell Me Lies, in 1998. Six books later, she is still happily writing novels and novellas for St. Martin's, along with short stories and essays on writing and pop culture. Her latest novel, Don't Look Down (SMP April 2006) is a collaboration with bestselling thriller writer Bob Mayer, an experience that reinforced everything she learned in that first long ago dissertation. She still lives in Ohio because she likes it there. For more information, visit www.jennycrusie.com.

Selected titles by Jennifer Crusie:
Bet Me, Faking It, Fast Women, Welcome to Temptation, Crazy for You, Tell Me Lies, Trust Me on This, The Cinderella Deal, Anyone But You, Charlie All Night, What the Lady Wants, Strange Bedpersons, Getting Rid of Bradley, Manhunting, Sizzle and Anne Rice: A Critical Companion (writing as Jennifer Smith)

USA Today bestselling author Bob Mayer has written 32 books ranging from military techno-thriller to political thriller to non-fiction to science fiction to romantic suspense. He has over two million books in print.

Born in the Bronx, Bob attended West Point and earned a BA in psychology with honors and then served as an Infantry platoon leader, a battalion scout platoon leader, and a brigade reconnaissance platoon leader in the 1st Cavalry Division. He then joined Special Forces and commanded a Green Beret A Team. He also served as the operations officer for the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and with Western Command Special Operations in Hawaii. Later he taught at the Special Forces Qualification Course at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, the course designed to train new Green Berets. He also lived in Korea where he earned a Black Belt in Martial Arts and in Tennessee where he earned a Masters Degree in Education from Austin Peay State University.

Bob draws on all of these experiences to write his novels and his nonfiction books, including WHO DARES WINS: Special Operations Tactics for Success and The Novel Writer's Toolkit: A Guide To Writing Great Fiction And Getting It Published. He speaks on both of these areas at writing conferences, workshops, and colleges. But his main focus remains his novels, which include the bestselling Area 51 books and the Dave Riley adventures. Out now are Bodyguard of Lies, the first novel in a series about the world of covert operations for Tor (March 2005), and Section Eight, the first novel in a new series for Harper Collins (Oct. 2005). Coming soon are Lost Girls for Tor and Don't Look Down , a romantic adventure written in collaboration with Jennifer Crusie for St. Martin's Press (April 2006).

Bob lives on a barrier island off the coast of South Carolina. For more information visit www.bobmayer.org.

Selected titles by Bob Mayer:
The Novel Writer's Toolkit: A Guide To Writing Great Fiction And Getting It Published, Who Dares Wins: Special Operations Tactics for Success, The Lost Girls and Section Eight.

Writing as Robert Doherty: The Rock, Area 51, Area 51: The Reply, Area 51: The Mission, Area 51: The Sphinx, Area 51: The Grail, Area 51: Excalibur, Area 51: The Truth, Area 51: Nosferatu, Area 51: Legend, Psychic Warrior and Psychic Warrior: Aura

Writing as Greg Donegan: Atlantis, Atlantis: Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis: Devil's Sea, Atlantis: Gate, Assault on Atlantis and Battle for Atlantis