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 Highly
acclaimed author L. C. Hayden has penned five mystery novels. Hayden’s most recent
release, WHY CASEY HAD TO DIE, is an Agatha Award Finalist for Best Novel. It followed
WHAT OTHERS KNOW, a Left Coast Crime nominee for the prestigious best mystery award.
Hayden’s other mysteries are WHERE SECRETS LIE, WHEN COLETTE DIED, and WHO’S SUSAN? The
books have made the Barnes & Noble Top Ten Bestseller List and have been featured on Oprah’s
Online Reading Café.
 Besides mysteries, Hayden is also the
author of the WordWright Best Seller inspirational, nonfiction book WHEN ANGELS TOUCH YOU, a
spiritually uplifting book that deals with miracles and angels. THE DRUMS OF GERALD HURD is
a horror novel that promises all the punch of a first-class horror story and the sensitivity
of a romance.
Besides being an accomplished author,
Hayden is a popular speaker who is often in demand. She has done workshop and school
presentations, has spoken to clubs and organizations, and was recently hired by several
cruise lines to speak about writing while cruising all over the world. Mystery Writers of
America recently asked Hayden to host their live talk show MURDER MUST AIR.
 Hayden, who taught high school English
for twenty-six years, retired in May 2001. Although she calls El Paso, Texas, her home, her
husband and she spend a vast amount of time on the road in their motor home, promoting
books, attending and speaking at conferences, or doing presentations.
Hayden holds a Master’s Degree in
Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. She is member of Sisters in
Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Texas Authors Coalition. She also enjoys being a
member of Mystery Babes and DorothyL, Internet mystery discussion groups.
Besides writing, Hayden enjoys drawing,
reading, traveling, and scuba diving. In addition to her novels, Hayden has published
fiction, non-fiction, and poetry since 1975 in various magazines, periodicals, and
newspapers. To date, she has sold over 400 pieces.
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 Leann Sweeney
writes The Yellow Rose Mysteries for NAL/Obsidian (formerly Signet)
featuring adoption PI Abby Rose. Leann lives in Friendswood, Texas but grew up in western
New York.
A former registered nurse, she was educated at St. Joseph's and LeMoyne College and also
received a psychology degree from the
 University of Houston. Leann resides with her husband
Mike, their three cats and the ADHD labradoodle "Rosie."
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| Dr. Bruce R. Cook has been active in film
production, producing and/or directing eleven features since 1978. He has also produced and
directed dozens of short subjects, commercials, and industrials. He has written more than
twenty screenplays. Eight of these have been made into finished films and several are still
in video distribution. They include Hold Back the Darkness; The Census Taker (AKA
Husbands, Wives, Money & Murder); Line of Fire; Nightwish; and Deadly
Intruder. He did camerawork on a dozen feature films, including Avenging Force;
Phoenix 2000; and Big Bad Mama II.
 Since 1973 he has taught at a variety of
film schools, including five years at USC and twenty-nine years at Los Angeles City College.
His former students number in the thousands. Among his former students are Matt Groening
(creator of The Simpsons), actor Laurence Fishburne, Paramount VP of Marketing Lucia
Ludovico, six Academy Award nominees and winners, numerous directors and producers, and
twelve Emmy nominees and winners.
In 1996 Dr. Cook was invited by ABS-CBN, the
largest television network in the Philippines, to teach a series of seminars on improving
the production techniques of the film and TV industry. While there, he also addressed an
assemblage of 2,000 Filipino film industry professionals.
The seminars brought him to the
attention of former Secretary of Agriculture Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez. He returned to the
Philippines to conduct market research on Southeast Asian film production. The research
served as the basis for his novel Philippine Fever.
Bruce Cook is the author of Philippine
Fever. He lives in Castaic, California.
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Brett Battles was born and raised in southern California. His parents,
avid readers, instilled the love of books in him early on.
Though he still makes California his home, he has traveled
extensively, including trips to Vietnam and Germany—two locations that play prominent parts
in his debut thriller
THE CLEANER
released in spring 2007
from Delacorte Press Hardcover.
THE DECEIVED, sequel to THE CLEANER, will be
released June 2008.
 Brett
is also in KILLER YEAR STORIES, an anthology edited by Lee Child, coming out in January
2008.
"Brett Battles makes a grand entrance into the
thriller scene with this unputdownable spy novel. THE CLEANER has it all: exotic locales,
James Bondian derring-do, and ingenious plot twists that will keep you sweating all the way
till the end."
—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of THE MEPHISTO
CLUB
"It's always great to discover a new writer who can turn a genre
on its ear. Brett Battles's THE CLEANER proves the case. Part Raymond Chandler, part Clive
Cussler, part Robert Ludlum, here is an international thriller chocked full of action, taut
with suspense, and laced with a fair amount of humor and romance. An exciting debut by a
major new talent...I look forward to seeing what comes next!"
—James Rollins, New York Times bestseller of MAP OF BONES and BLACK ORDER
THE CLEANER by Brett Battles
Jonathan Quinn is a professional cleaner. His job? Nothing too violent, just disposing of
bodies, doing a little cleanup if necessary. But in Brett Battles' electrifying debut novel,
Quinn's latest assignment will change everything, igniting a harrowing journey of violence,
betrayal, and revenge. Read Audrey's review here
The
Cleaner by Brett Battles |
 Mary
SanGiovanni
received a Masters in Writing Popular Fiction from
Seton Hall University in 2007. Her fiction has appeared in anthologies and magazines since
2001. Her short story collection, UNDER COVER OF NIGHT, was published by Flesh & Blood Press
in 2002. THE HOLLOWER, published by Leisure Books, is her first novel, and she is at work
on a new one.
Reviews of THE HOLLOWER state that it is an "impressive debut" with "set
pieces even a more experienced writer would envy," with characters that are "realistic" and
believable." She lives in New Jersey with her son.
The Hollower is about a monster that waits and watches you, biding its
time until it can find a way into your head to destroy you from the inside
out. It can’t see you, can’t hear you, and it never touches you — it doesn’t
have to. It can find you, and it can hurt you — badly.And you know how it’s
gonna find you? You’re going to let it in. You’re going to give it a free
invite and an open door, every time you look in the mirror. Every time you
convince yourself, “sure, he didn’t call because he doesn’t care about you.”
Or, “she left me because I don’t make enough money, I’m not strong enough or
smart enough to hold onto her.” It’s going to slip right in through the
cracks, when you turn your head and pretend something doesn’t matter, that it
was inevitable anyway, because why should anything good happen to you?
And once the monster gets in, everything that scares you about yourself is
fair game. Everything that’s ever really, honestly terrified you is going to
be thrown in your face. It’s going to crack you open like a walnut and suck
out all the self-loathing, self-pretending, skewed, warped thoughts until
you’re empty of everything.
Until you’re hollow.
Because that’s what the Hollower does.
Intro by Brian Keene, author of THE RISING, CITY OF THE DEAD, TERMINAL, and
others. |
 Sarah Langan is the author
of The Keeper, a New York
Times' Editor's Choice, and best first novel Stoker
Award nominee. Her second novel The Missing will be
published in October, 2007, and has so far received a
starred review from Publisher's Weekly, and sold out
in the UK.
Sarah's stories have been published or are
forthcoming in The Best Horror, 2007, Cemetery Dance,
Shivers, Darkness on the Edge: Stories inspired by
Bruce Springsteen, Chiaroscuro, and Phantom.
 Along
with Deborah LeBlanc, Sarah Pinborough, and Alex
Sokoloff, she is also a founding member of MUSE
(www.musefour.com).
She has an MFA in fiction writing
from Columbia University, and is
currently pursuing her MS in Environmental Toxicology. She's lives in Brooklyn, where she is at work on her
third novel, Audrey's Door.
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