JANE HELLER spent a decade promoting bestselling authors for New York publishing houses before becoming a writer herself. A former Vice President of Advertising, Promotion and Publicity, she worked with Stephen King, Judy Blume, John Jakes and Erica Jong, among many others, and created dozens of campaigns for both individual titles and entire imprints. (She once staged a wedding at the annual bookseller’s convention to promote a new line of paperback romance novels; as far as she knows, the couple is still married.) She moved into the bookselling arena as the editor of Waldenbooks’ consumer publications, and into TV production as a talent booker for “USA Today: The Television Show.”

Jane wrote her first novel, Cha Cha Cha, a humorous romance/mystery, on a whim, and was panic-stricken when her agent called to say that a publisher wanted to sign her to a three-book contract. She recovered, however, and turned out 12 more novels of romantic comedy in as many years, including Name Dropping (USA Today bestseller) and Female Intelligence (New York Times bestseller). Eight out of her 13 novels have been optioned for feature films and television movies, and she was hired to adapt the screenplay for one of the books, The Secret Ingredient. All of her titles have been translated in countries around the world. People magazine said of her lighthearted stories: “Heller’s prose is quite funny and always engaging.”

Jane’s first nonfiction book, Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of True Love with the New York Yankees, evolved from an article about her beloved baseball team that ran in the sports section of the New York Times.

She continues to contribute sports pieces for the Times, has a weekly segment about the Yankees on “The Natural,” a sports talk radio show in the New York area, and writes her daily “Confessions of a She-Fan” blog, which has been the #1 ranked fan blog on Major League Baseball’s site.

Currently, Jane is working on a new novel, developing the “She-Fan” book for the screen and shopping another nonfiction book about the Yankees. Born and raised in New York, she now makes her home in Santa Barbara with her husband, Michael Forester.

Visit her at www.janeheller.com.

MELODIE JOHNSON HOWE always wanted to be a writer but at the age of twenty-one was “discovered” at a Hollywood party. Given a screen test, she was put under contract to Universal Studios. In that same month, she married a record producer, Bones Howe, who had three children. Undaunted by the screams of “it will never work,” she co-starred in such films as “Coogan’s Bluff” with Clint Eastwood, “Rabbit Run” with James Caan, and “Gaily, Gaily” with Beau Bridges, and acted in many TV series while raising their three children and going to UCLA night school to learn the craft of writing.

Melodie wrote a play, The Lady of the House, which was produced by the Los Angeles Actors Theater. Having received her first paycheck for writing, she stopped acting and wrote her first novel, The Mother Shadow. It was nominated for Edgar, Anthony, and Agatha awards, and named one of the top mysteries of the year by the Los Angeles Times. Her next novel was Beauty Dies, another critical success.

She has created a series of short stories featuring the middle-aged actress, Diana Poole, which have been published regularly in Ellery Queen Magazine. One story, "Facing Up," was nominated for The Barry Award. Another, "Tented Evening," was re-published in The Best American Mystery Stories edited by Robert B. Parker and Otto Penzler. In 2010, The Diana Poole Stories will be collected in a book to be published by Crippen Landru. Ellery Queen Magazine said of the stories: “More than glamour of setting, what makes Ms. Howe’s work stand out is keenness of insight.”

Melodie has taught workshops in fiction at the UCLA Extension and The Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and has become a sought-after lecturer and consultant. She has also been a popular weekly blogger on the subject of writing at www.CriminalBrief.com.

Currently, she is completing a Diana Poole novel and working on more short stories. She is still married to Bones Howe, and her adult children still call her Mom. And they said it would never work. A Los Angeles native, she and her husband now live in Santa Barbara.

Visit her at www.melodiejohnsonhowe.com.

.