Gina Iorio is a self proclaimed history nerd and loves all things from the Victorian era. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in History from Le Moyne College and her MS in Library and Information Science School Media from Syracuse University. When she isn’t reading about times gone by, Gina is a high school librarian in Upstate New York where she has worked for eight years. In addition, she is the co writer of Divination a comic that is being published by MTV Geek. In her spare time she has written some reviews for the Historical Novel Society and is currently working on a steam punk novel for teens.
Marci Jefferson – Growing up in an Air Force family took Marci across the world, inspiring an interest in culture and travel, but her passion for history sparked while living in Yorktown, Virginia, where locals still tell Revolutionary War tales. She kept a love of 
writing to herself, and eventually abandoned it to pursue the more “practical” path of becoming a Registered Nurse. Years after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University, immersing herself in a Quality Assurance nursing career, and then having children, she realized she’d neglected a few of her passions. She began traveling again, writing along the way, delving into bits of history. The plot for her first novel evolved after a trip to London, where she first learned about the Stuart royals. Thomas Dunne Books of St. Martin’s Press will release her debut, The Duchess of Richmond, a Novel of Frances Stuart, early in 2014. She resides in the Midwest with her husband, making hair-bows for their daughter, trying not to step on their son’s Legos, and teaching a tiny Pacific Parrotlet to talk. Find Marci on Facebook, Twitter, and her website, www.marcijefferson.com
Kathryn Johnson is the founder of Write by You (www.writebyyou.com), an author’s mentoring service based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes under her own name as 
well as Mary Hart Perry. Over 40 of her novels have sold to major U.S. and foreign publishers. Her first in a series of Victorian thrillers, The Wild Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria’s Defiant Daughter, launched August 1, 2012. This book, as well as The Gentleman Poet: A Novel of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” (2010, also for HarperCollins), has received critical acclaim for its innovative blend of historical fact and entertaining fantasy. An inspiring conference speaker, she also has served as judge on the Edgar Awards Committee for the Mystery Writers of America and is Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic region of the same organization. When Kathryn isn’t writing, she teaches The Extreme Novelist, a popular course she developed for The Writer’s Center, in the Washington, DC area. Kathryn is a proud member of the HNS as well as the Author’s Guild, RWA, MWA, SinC, and NINC.
Sherry Jones – Internationally best selling author Sherry Jones’s most recent novel, FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS (Simon and Schuster/Gallery Books), tells of four sisters in 13th century Provence who became queens of France, England, Germany, and Italy. This tale of love, lust, intrigue, and sibling rivalry on a royal scale follows Jones’s recently released e-nov
ella, WHITE HEART, about the formidable French “White Queen” Blanche de Castille. Jones made international headlines in 2008 with the release of her controversial debut novel, THE JEWEL OF MEDINA, for which translation rights have been sold in 19 languages. Together with its sequel, THE SWORD OF MEDINA (Beaufort Books), also an international best-seller, these books tell the tale of A’isha bint Abi Bakr, the youngest wife of the Prophet Muhammad and the most famous and influential woman in the history of Islam. When she’s not working on her next book – a passionate tale of the 12th century Parisian lovers Heloise and Abelard — Sherry is traveling the world as a speaker on topics including free speech, Islam, the middle ages, and women’s rights. In particular, Sherry aims to empower girls and women with her tales of extraordinary women in history. Learn more about her and her books at http://authorsherryjones.com.
Mitchell James Kaplan’s first novel, By Fire, By Water (Other Press), has received numerous awards and accolades including the 2011 Independent Publishers Award Gold Medal for Historical Fiction, the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award Bronze Medal for Historical Fiction, an Eric Hoffer Award Honorable
Mention in the General Fiction category, and the Adelina Della Pergola Prize for the Italian edition. It was one of fifteen novels nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award in Historical Fiction and was selected as Book of the Year by “One Book, One Jewish Community” organizations in Philadelphia, Houston, Portland (OR), and the State of Delaware. Writing in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Pamela Miller called By Fire, By Water “[a] remarkably learned and heartbreaking romantic novel.” In Ha’aretz, Matt Beynon Rees wrote that it”must take its place as one of the most important contemporary historical novels with a Jewish theme.” Tirdad Derakshani, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, called By Fire, By Water “a beautiful tapestry… Despite its epic sweep, [it] is also an intimate portrait of a remarkable individual.” Rege Behe, in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, called it “A grand novel.” Fascinated with the history of religions, Mitchell James Kaplan is currently at work on a second novel, set primarily in Rome and Judea during the birth of Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. He also writes book reviews for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mitchell James Kaplan is a graduate of Yale University. (mitchelljameskaplan.com and mitchell.j.kaplan@mitchelljameskaplan.com)
Susanna Kearsley is a former museum curator and avid amateur genealogist. The past and its bearing on the present is a familiar theme in her books. Her novel Mariana won the UK’s Catherine Cookson Prize in 1993, and her books have since been translated and sold into more than twenty countries. Her ninth novel, The Winter Sea, spent five weeks on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists, won 2011’s RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction, and has sold more than a quarter of a million copies in the USA alone. She lives in Canada.
Kathleen Kent’s first novel, The Heretic’s Daughter, has been a New York Times 
bestseller, both in hardcover and in paperback. The story chronicles the life of Martha Carrier, the author’s grandmother back 9 generations, during the Salem witch trials of 1692, and is based in part on family stories passed down through many generations. Published now in 15 countries, it was the recipient of the 2008 David J. Langum, Sr. award for American historical fiction. Ms. Kent’s second novel, The Traitor’s Wife, (The Wolves of Andover in hardcover)was released in paperback in September 2011. A prequel to The Heretic’s Daughter, the novel chronicles the life of Thomas Carrier, husband to Martha; a man local Massachusetts’ lore and family legend said was a soldier during the English Civil War, and involved with the execution of King Charles I of England. The Traitor’s Wife is also a New York Times bestseller. The author has completed her third novel: Lucinda. Set in Texas in 1870, the novel is based on a true-life serial killer who terrorized settlers across the state, the young and inexperienced Texas State Policeman who pursued him, and a remarkable woman fleeing a life of prostitution to begin anew as a school teacher (scheduled for release in September of 2013). Ms. Kent currently resides in Dallas, Texas.
Eliza Knight is the owner of the popular historical blog, History Undressed. She is also a bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author of historical romance. She is also currently working on a Tudor-era series of historical women’s fiction. Eliza grew up playing in castle ruins and traipsing the halls of Versailles when visiting her grandparents during the summer, which instilled a love of history and royals at an early age. She resides in Maryland with her husband and three daughters.
Joanne Lewis is an attorney and author who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As a 
lawyer, she is a family mediator and guardian ad litem who represents the best interests of children. As a writer, she creates character driven novels and has a special interest in mysteries and historical novels. She has self-published three novels to date and is the Author Advisor for Telemachus Press. Joanne is the author of The Lantern, a Renaissance mystery. This historical novel tells the story of a woman in modern day Miami who searches for a girl in 15th Century Florence, Italy who dared to enter a competition to build the lantern on top of Brunelleschi’s dome. The Lantern won first place in the Royal Palm Literary Awards for historical fiction. She is also the co-author of the award winning novel Wicked Good, which tells the story of a boy with Asperger’s syndrome who searches for his birth parents. Joanne has used her experience as a former prosecutor to bring Make Your Own Luck, a Remy Summer Woods mystery, to life. Make Your Own is the first book in the series and is award winning. Joanne makes a living as an attorney and lives her dreams as a writer. Please visit her website at www.joannelewiswrites.com or email her at jtawnylewis@gmail.com.
Katherine Lim — (coming soon)
Jack Woodville London — Jack Woodville London is an internationally acclaimed author, World War II historian and trial-attorney in Austin, Texas. He is a graduate of the
University of Texas Law School and a former captain in the US Army Quartermaster Corps. Jack’s foundation began when he was elected managing editor of the University of Texas International Law Journal in 1970. Since then he has authored a long list of technical articles and papers on various legal topics, and has spoken at numerous legal programs throughout the United States as well as internationally. In 2003, Jack put aside legal writing to enroll in the prestigious writing school of St. Céré, France where he graduated from among other esteemed writers. Jack has spent much of his life exploring a deep interest in World War II and its effects on the home front—particularly small towns. His love for writing and history united to produce his French Letters series of novels which have been internationally praised for their meticulous historical research and ability to capture the language, attitudes, and moral culture of their setting. To learn more about his books, articles and other projects visit his website at www.jwlbooks.com. Jack’s passion for writing resonates in all of his literary works, earning them the national acclaim they have received. Most recently, Jack’s French Letters series received honorable mention at the 2011 London Book Festival and The Military Writers Society of America awarded him the prestigious honor of 2011-2012 Author of the Year for Engaged in War, the second installment in the trilogy.
Adelaida Lu
cena-Lower is a writer, devoted HF reader, and long-time HNS reviewer. She was born in the city of Ibn-Battuta, Tangier, Morocco, of Spanish parents. Her family spoke in Castilian and French and, when they did not want her to know what they were saying, in Arabic. No surprise that she would end up learning languages and becoming an E.S.L. teacher. After marrying, she traveled with her family to faraway places and lived in countries in five continents. Manassas, Virginia, is home right now. She has completed a novel about fifteen-century Spain, and is researching the next. Contact her: www.adelaidalucenalower.com
