About the Authors
Cynthia Leitich Smith is the acclaimed YA author of Tantalize (2007), and its companions, Eternal (2009) and Blessed (forthcoming), all Gothic fantasies from Candlewick Press. She also has written several YA short stories as well as books for younger readers. Tantalize was a March 2007 Borders Original Voices selection, honored at the 2007 National Book Festival, and The Horn Book called it “an intoxicating romantic thriller.” A graphic novel adaptation of Tantalize is in the works. Cynthia may be found on the Web at www.cynthialeitichsmith.com. She makes her home in Austin, Texas, with her husband, author Greg Leitich Smith.
044
New York Times bestselling author Kristin Cast is only going to college because she loves education and lives to attend lectures. Okay, not really. Miss Cast currently attends the University of Tulsa and is a communications major. She has won awards for her poetry, as well as served as journalist for her high school newspaper, Tiger Tales, and as editor for her high school magazine, Tiger Eye. Miss Cast would like to become so famous people make fountains and/or shrines in her image. You can reach her through www.pccast.net.
045
Rachel Caine is the author of more than twenty-five novels, most notably her bestselling Morganville Vampires series and Weather Warden series, as well as being a frequent contributor to BenBella Books’s fiction and nonfiction projects. She writes constantly, and frequently gets paid for it, which always surprises and delights her. Visit her Web site at www.rachelcaine.com, and friend her on Livejournal, Facebook, and MySpace!
046
Tanith Lee was born in 1947 in the UK. She worked in many jobs until becoming a full-time professional writer in 1975. She has to date written nearly 100 books and more than 260 short stories, four radio plays, and episodes of the cult TV series Blake’s 7. She has won, or been shortlisted for, numerous awards. She lives in England with her husband, writer and artist John Kaiine, and two permanently hungry Tuxedo cats.
 
Richelle Mead is the New York Times bestselling author of Vampire Academy and Frostbite. The fourth book in the series, Blood Promise, was released in August 2009. A former middle school teacher, Richelle now writes full-time in Seattle. She buys far too many dresses, hasn’t seen the surface of her desk in over a year, and rarely gets up before noon. More information can be found at www.richellemead.com.
047
Nancy Holder is the USA Today bestselling author of more than eighty novels and 200 short stories, essays, and articles. She is currently working with co-author Debbie Viguie on Wicked: Resurrection for Simon and Schuster. The author of Pretty Little Devils, she has contracted with Razorbill for two more YA horror novels. Contact her at www.nancyholder.com.
048
A recent transplant into the deep south, Rachel Vincent has a BA in English and an overactive imagination, and consistently finds the latter to be more practical. She shares her workspace with two black cats (Kaci and Nyx) and her #1 fan. Rachel is older than she looks—seriously—and younger than she feels, but remains convinced that for every day she spends writing, one more day will be added to her lifespan. Find her online at www.RachelVincent.com.
Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of New York-based writer Amy Vincent. She is the author of the Evernight series of vampire novels set in the present day, in which Patrice is a character—now as a 160-year-old vampire. The first book, Evernight, came out in May 2008, and the second book in the series, Stargazer, was released in March 2009.