Internationally known author and speaker Patricia H. Rushford has book sales totaling over three-quarters of a million copies. She has written numerous articles and authored more than thirty books, including Have You Hugged Your Teenager Today? and The Jack and Jill Syndrome: Healing for Broken Children. She also writes mystery series for adults and kids; the second book in the Jennie McGrady series for children was nominated for an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America and another won the Phantom Friends Award.

Patricia is a registered nurse and holds a master’s degree in counseling. In addition, she conducts writers’ workshops for adults and children and is codirector of Writer’s Weekend at the Beach. Pat has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows across the U.S. and Canada. She lives in the Portland, Oregon, area with her husband of thirty-five years; she has two adult children and seven grandchildren.