The Blue Religion

About the Authors

James O. Born is the author of a series featuring Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent Bill Tasker. His newest novel, Field of Fire, follows the investigations of the ATF. His books capture the feeling and details of police work while following realistic procedure. He is a former U.S. drug agent and an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He has been writing for eighteen years and is published by Putnam.

Jon L. Breen is the author of seven novels, most recently Eye of God (Perseverance Press), and three short-story collections, most recently Kill the Umpire: The Calls of Ed Gorgon (Crippen & Landru). He won Edgar Awards in the biographical/critical category for What About Murder? (1981) and Novel Verdicts (1984) and is a book-review columnist for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Mystery Scene. Retired as a librarian and professor of English at Rio Hondo College, he lives in Fountain Valley, California, with his wife and first line editor, Rita.

John Buentello is a writer who lives in San Antonio, Texas. He has published stories in a number of genres, including mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He and his brother Lawrence have published the anthology Binary Tales and have recently completed the novel Reproduction Rights. John has been married to his wife, Ann, for sixteen years, which makes him the luckiest man on earth.

A former deputy district attorney, Alafair Burke graduated with distinction from Stanford Law School and is now a professor at Hofstra Law School, where she teaches criminal law and procedure. She is the author of four novels, Dead Connection, Close Case, Missing Justice, and Judgment Calls. Her fifth novel, Angel’s Tip, featuring NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher, will be published by HarperCollins in 2008. She lives in New York City. Visit her at alafairburke.com.

Michael Connelly is the author of eighteen novels and one collection of nonfiction crime stories. Among his novels are The Black Echo, The Last Coyote, The Poet, Blood Work, and The Lincoln Lawyer. He is a past president of the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his family in Florida.

About himself, Jack Fredrickson admits little other than that, after something of successful careers in productivity consulting and owning and managing an interior-design/commercial-furnishings firm, he abandoned productive employment to write in dark places. His first crime novel, A Safe Place for Dying (Publishers Weekly starred review), debuted in November 2006. He lives with his wife, Susan, west of Chicago. Check him out at jackfredrickson.com.

Leslie Glass is a playwright and the author of fourteen novels, including Over His Dead Body, For Love and Money, and nine bestselling novels of psychological suspense featuring NYPD detective April Woo. The founder of the Leslie Glass Foundation, Glass worked in advertising and publishing, was a script writer for a soap opera, and wrote the Intelligencer column for New York Magazine before turning to fiction fulltime. She now writes a column for Sarasota Magazine and develops original screenplays with her daughter and partner, Lindsey Glass.

Paul Guyot is an award-winning television writer/producer whose credits include Felicity, Snoops, and the Emmy-winning drama Judging Amy. He is the creator and executive producer of the police drama Crimes Against Persons for A &E. His short stories can be found in numerous anthologies and online publications. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and family. More information can be culled from his Web site: paulguyot.net.

Diana Hansen-Young was born in Bellingham, Washington, in 1947, into a community of, as she called them, “depressed Mormon Swedish farmers.” In 1966 she moved to Hawaii, ran for the State Constitutional Convention in 1968, and won a seat by ninety-three votes. She went on to run for the Hawaii State House of Representatives, a post which she won. After losing a congressional race, she started painting little scenes of Hawaii and selling them. For the next twenty-five years, she painted Hawaiian women, which grew into a business. But in 1996, after developing severe arthritis in her right arm and hand, she could no longer hold a paintbrush. During those twenty-five years, she had been writing plays, novels, and short stories, and tossing them in boxes. She dusted off manuscripts that she’d never submitted, closed the business, rented the farm, and moved with her two daughters to New York City. She received an MFA from NYU, where she met composer Brian Feinstein, her collaborator on her thesis musical, Mimi Le Duck, which premiered off-Broadway in 2006. A member of MWA, she now writes fulltime in New York City.

John Harvey is the author of ten Charlie Resnick novels, the first of which, Lonely Hearts, was named by the Times (London) as one of the 100 Best Crime Novels of the Century. In 2007 he was awarded the British Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence in crime writing. He lives in London.

Edward D. Hoch is a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was a winner of its Edgar Award for best short story. He received the MWA’s Grand Master Award in 2001. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon, twice winner of its Anthony Award, and recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award. Author of some 950 published stories, he has appeared in every issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine for the past thirty-four years. Hoch and his wife, Patricia, reside in Rochester, New York.

Laurie R. King is the New York Times bestselling author of the Mary Russell novels, the Kate Martinelli series (including To Play the Fool, featuring Brother Erasmus), and five stand-alone novels, most recently Touchstone. She has won the Edgar, Creasey, Nero, Macavity, and Lambda awards; her nominations include the Edgar, the Agatha, the Orange, and the Barry. She is published in twenty countries.

Polly Nelson is new to mystery writing, having had her first story published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’s August 1995 issue, voted by EQ readers as among the year’s ten best. The British Crime Writers’ Association also selected a story for inclusion in the 2007 Fish anthology. Other stories have been published online at East of the Web and Mystery Scene Magazine. In a previous professional life, she directed children’s theater and worked with individuals dealing with mental illness.

T. Jefferson Parker is the author of fourteen crime novels and a two-time winner of the Edgar Award for best mystery. He lives in Southern California with his wife and sons.

Peter Robinson was born in Yorkshire. After getting his BA Honours degree in English literature at the University of Leeds, he came to Canada and took his MA in English and creative writing at the University of Windsor, then a PhD in English at York University. He has taught at a number of Toronto colleges and served as writer in residence at the University of Windsor, 1992-1993. His first novel, Gallows View, introduced Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. It was short-listed for the John Creasey Award in the UK and the Crime Writers of Canada best first novel award. It was followed by fourteen more, the most recent being Piece of My Heart. The series has garnered many awards, including the Arthur Ellis Award, the Anthony Award, and the Barry Award, and has been nominated multiple times. He has also written the stand-alone novel Caedmon’s Song. His books have been translated into fifteen languages. Robinson lives in the Beaches area of Toronto with his wife, Sheila Halladay, and he occasionally teaches crime writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.

Greg Rucka was born in San Francisco and raised on the Central Coast of California, in what is commonly referred to as “Steinbeck Country.” He began his writing career in earnest at the age of ten by winning a countywide short-story contest and hasn’t let up since. He graduated from Vassar College with an AB in English, and from the University of Southern California’s master of professional writing program. He is the author of nearly a dozen novels, five featuring bodyguard Atticus Kodiak and two featuring Tara Chace, the protagonist of his Queen & Country series. Additionally, he has penned several short stories, countless comics, and the occasional nonfiction essay. In comics, he has had the opportunity to write stories featuring some of the world’s best-known characters – Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman – as well as penning several creator-owned properties himself, such as Whiteout and Queen & Country, both published by Oni Press. His work has been optioned several times over, and his services as a story doctor and creative consultant are in high demand in a variety of creative fields. Greg resides in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, author Jennifer Van Meter, and his two children. He thinks the biggest problem with the world is that people aren’t paying enough attention.

Bev Vincent grew up in eastern Canada and lived in Switzerland before moving to Texas in the late 1980s. His American-born daughter recently moved to Canada to keep things in balance. He is the author of more than forty stories, including contributions to the Bram Stoker Award-winning anthology From the Borderlands; Doctor Who: Destination Prague; All Hallows; The Best of Borderlands 1-5; Cemetery Dance; Corpse Blossoms; Shivers IV; and a mystery anthology featuring tales set in bathrooms called Who Died in Here? His first book, The Road to the Dark Tower, an authorized exploration of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, was nominated for a 2004 Bram Stoker Award. He coedited The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book, wrote reviews for Accent Literary Review, and is a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine. He is a monthly contributor to Storytellers Unplugged. His Web site, with links to his message board and blogs, is bevvincent.com.

Persia Walker, a New York City native, is the author of Darkness and the Devil Behind Me and Harlem Redux, mysteries set against the glittering backdrop of 1920s New York. A former journalist, Persia has worked for the Associated Press and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich. She has degrees from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and Swarthmore College.

In her four critically acclaimed Charlotte Justice novels, Paula L. Woods has focused on her protagonist, an LAPD Homicide detective. In “Divine Droplets,” the focus shifts to Charlotte’s nemesis, Detective Steve Firestone, and fast-forwards from the 1990s to present-day Los Angeles. “Since his debut in Inner City Blues, Firestone has been a deeply flawed but increasingly peripheral character in the series,” she notes. “It was high time to tell his story and examine the errors he’s made in his career.” In addition to writing the series, Woods is also a book critic and pens reviews for the Los Angeles Times.